The Fall and Rise of Theta Sigma, a sequel to KT
by AndroidSister
Summary: AU for S6 of DW, and S2 of Warehouse13. The Doctor invites the Pond's, River Song, and the mysterious Mr.Valda to witness his demise at the hands of an Apollo Astronaut. That was a future Doctor. The current one arrives with Koschei, none the wiser to his fate. But why doesn't Mr.Valda, aka Canton Delaware III seem to have aged a day since '69? & why is Koschei acting so oddly?
1. The Fall

**The Fall And Rise of Theta Sigma **

(**Disclaimers/ Warnings**: I do not own DOCTOR WHO, WAREHOUSE13 or any of their characters. Now that that's out of the way I'd like to mention that as this is a sequel to my DW fic-Koschei's trinity, it will mostly be centered around the DW characters with occasional disections with the Warehouse 13 'verse.)

**"_Sometimes you wake up. Sometimes the fall kills you. And sometimes, when you fall, you fly." _**

**_-Neil Gaiman_**

**Chapter One: The Fall**

"Haven't we seen this one already?" Amy asked, getting up off the couch at the sound of the mail slot.

"I don't know. Could be." Rory admitted. "It's whatever they're showing on the telly. I was just flipping past when I saw… Hey! Isn't that the Doctor?" Rory suddenly exclaimed, leaning forward to take a closer look at the Marx brothers' movie. Amy came back into the room with the mail and glanced over his shoulder.

"Yes, it is." She confirmed, sorting through the post. "I told you. He's been doing that. It's like he's showing off or something. Junk, junk, creepy letter from Thomas, junk- Oh! Rhonda's having another baby!"

"Oh, good." Rory commented distractedly. Amy sighed.

"I'm sure if something was up he would…" She trailed off, dropping the rest of the post onto the table behind their couch to inspect the TARDIS-blue envelope in her hands more carefully.

"Amy?" Rory inquired, turning to look questioningly at her over his shoulder.

"I might have spoken too soon." Amy told him, holding it up so that he could see it. It was covered in a collage of stamps from all over the world. "I think this is from him. TARDIS blue, no return address, and then there's the message." She passed him the neatly-folded square of vivid-blue paper.

"Temporal coordinates." Rory noted. "Yep. That's him. …Looks like we're going to America."

* * *

River sat in one of the more disreputable, dimly-lit bars of Blackstar Space Station, sipping a poisoned martini, and enjoying the loud but strangely soothing music from the post-dub band blaring over the speakers.

"'Scuse me, Lav. You Song?" The surly Altenian bartender asked, squinting down at her with two of his six beady, red eyes. She looked up at him, smiling politely.

"Mhhm. Why do you ask?"

"This was left for you." He said, reaching out one of his three upper tentacles to pass her a little blue envelope.

"Why thank you, Alpert. How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing tonight, Song. You do know you've been stung, yeah?"

"Oh, yes." River replied, characteristically unconcerned. She recognized the taste of this poison and was confident of her resistance to it.

"You're not bothered?"

"Give it a minute." River returned. There was a groan from the corner booth behind her, followed by the sound of two bodies collapsing. Alpert opened his mouths to comment but she held up a hand. One more body collapsed, this one knocking into another table and spilling drinks on the way down. The music stopped for a second while the patrons processed this. Less than a minute later they resumed as if nothing at all had happened, having determined that these thugs didn't belong to any of the other criminals present.

"Ooh, that last one was a bit messy, wasn't he?" River observed. "Sorry about that. Feel free to charge me for the damages." She tossed a charge card onto the countertop. "I'm good for it. Gotta go. The past again, that'll be fun!" She stood from her stool and strolled out of the bar. The Altenian shook his head, watching her leave.

"Time-travellers…" He muttered to himself, then got to work cleaning up this latest mess.

* * *

"You have to admit. It _is_ a bit strange." Mr. Valda remarked as he got out of his limmo in the middle of the Utah desert. He gestured dismissively to his body guards when they started to follow. "It's alright. Take five." The guards narrowed their eyes in dissatisfaction, but obeyed. "Care to explain?"

"Not really." The Doctor replied, sitting on the hood of the car.

"Fine. What's with that hat?" Valda asked, disapprovingly eying the ten-gallon hat the Doctor was currently sporting.

"Cowboy hats are cool."

"No it isn't." Valda assured him. A little yellow bus pulled up a little way down the road and Amy and Rory got out, running up to hug the Doctor.

"Doctor!" Amy cried happily, tackling him in a hug.

"Hello, Ponds!" The Doctor responded, hugging her, then Rory, and squeezing the latter a little harder than necessary.

"Hello. What's with the hat?" Rory inquired.

"I wondered that too." Mr. Valda said.

"It's cool!" The Doctor defended, jumping when someone shot it off his head. River blew the smoke away from the tip of her gun and walked over to join them, smirking.

"Hello, Sweetie." She greeted.

"River." The Doctor acknowledged with a tight smile. "So, now that we're all here. Let's get moving shall we? I brought a picnic basket! Don't give me that look Canton—"

"Benedict." Valda corrected.

"You'll like it." The Doctor finished, ignoring the interruption.

"Sorry. Who are you?" Amy inquired, studying the unfamiliar man.

"This is Agent Delaware—" The Doctor began.

"_Mr_. Valda." Valda corrected, patiently. "That was a long time ago, Doctor."

"Wouldn't know it by looking." The Doctor remarked, looking him over. Then he shook his head as if to disperse the thought. "…Doesn't matter. Come along." He picked the old-fashioned picnic basket up off the ground and led them down to the lakeside.

"Wait a minute. Where's Koschei?" Rory asked as they had to break into a jog to keep up, except for the mysterious Mr. Valda, who'd fallen into step with the Doctor as soon as he'd started walking. River glanced curiously over her shoulder, noticing his two dark-suited bodyguards shadowing them from a respectful distance.

"He couldn't make it." The Doctor answered cryptically. "Ah, here's a good spot. Beautiful, isn't it?"

"Doctor—" River stopped herself. They could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to give anything away until he was good and ready. She sighed and pulled out her notebook. "Fine. Let's get this part over with." She looked him over thoughtfully as he and a bewildered Amy spread out the picnic blanket. "Jim the fish?"

"Yes, he's doing quite well." The Doctor responded.

"Oh, good! What's the old boy up to these days?"

"You know… same old Jim, still building his dam." The Doctor replied fondly.

"What are they doing?" Mr. Valda inquired as Rory began unpacking the food. Rory straightened up to glance at the two over his shoulder and shrugged.

"You know. Time-travelers: they never meet in the right order, so they have to sync their diaries whenever they meet in order to know which 'them' they're dealing with."

"Huh. I never thought about that."

"Most people don't." Rory said, inspecting the wine bottle he'd just retrieved from the picnic basket. "Um… Doctor?"

"Ah yes, a present from Julius Caesar. I've been saving it for something special." The Doctor explained. Rory and Amy exchanged skeptical expressions.

"You don't drink, Sweetie." River pointed out.

"I must have at some point. I'm 910 years old; you don't think I've ever had wine?" The Doctor argued defensively, taking a drink and promptly spitting it out. "Ugh, that's vile! It's not at all what I expected. I thought it'd be more… grapey."

Things continued in the same relaxed manner for a while afterword, with everyone taking the chance to catch up and simply enjoy each other's company. Amy was once again laughing at the Doctor's antics when she saw it. There was a strange, looming figure staring down at them from its perch on the cliff above. A suited, too slender figure stood unnaturally still on the slanted rock. Its head was overlarge for its slim, sticklike body. It shifted its gaze to regard her and her smile slipped from her face at the chilling feeling she got when their eyes met, as though it was reaching into her mind and _pulling_.

"Amy?" Rory questioned, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright, Dear?" River asked. Amy looked over at her and suddenly she wasn't sure why she felt so scared.

"I thought… Yes, never mind." She said, brushing it off. "It's nothing. Sorry, what were you saying?"

"Are you sure?" The Doctor said. Mr. Valda narrowed his eyes at her, before looking back over his shoulder in the direction she'd been staring. There was nothing there.

"I'm fine." Amy insisted. The Doctor studied her face interestedly, but then shifted his gaze away to their surprise guest. Someone was walking towards them out of the water.

"What the…" Rory mumbled as they all stared. The Doctor calmly got up.

"Is that an Apollo astronaut?" Amy said in disbelief.

"…Coming towards us out of the center of a lake." River added.

"Stay back. Canton: Tell your men to do the same. Whatever happens, no one interferes. Understood?" The Doctor instructed, not taking his gaze off of their strange guest. A muscle in Valda's jaw twitched, perhaps indicating his dislike of being the one taking orders. The Doctor looked to him expectantly. After a brief hesitation, the shorter man nodded and gave another signal to his guards. They obediently lowered their weapons as the Doctor strolled over to meet with the astronaut.

"What's going on?" Amy asked quietly while they watched the Doctor and the astronaut's exchange.

"I'm not—No!" River shouted in shock. The astronaut had just shot the Doctor with some kind of plasma weapon. Amy darted forward but River grabbed her and held her back. The Doctor fell to his knees, starting to regenerate.

"Let me go!" Amy shouted, struggling against her. Another shot rang out. The Doctor was on the ground. The bodyguards readied to shoot but Mr. Valda held up a hand reminding them to hold their fire. "We have to do something!" Amy shot back, still struggling to break free.

"We have our orders, Miss Pond." Mr. Valda shouted back. One more shot rang out. The Doctor's body went completely still. He was no longer regenerating. The astronaut turned back and walked away into the lake it had risen from. The moment it was a safe enough distance away, River released her hold on Amy and the three companions ran to the Doctor's side to help him.

"Nothing." River reported, scanning him for life-signs. "He's… dead! You—" She stood up and emptied her gun trying to shoot his retreating attacker. "Damn it!" Not a single hit.

"He can't be dead!" Amy denied.

"I'm sorry." River said, turning back to the others.

"We have to do something! Rory? How do we fix him?" Amy demanded, looking up at her husband.

"I can't…" Rory replied numbly, shaking his head.

"What do we do? There _has_ to be something that we can do!"

"We need to burn the body. Timelord biology is uniquely valuable." River announced, holstering her pistol. "There are species that would scorch this entire planet just to get the tiniest piece of him." Rory glared at her disapprovingly.

"He had me bring gasoline." Mr. Valda piped in, causing Amy to jump. She'd sort of forgotten that he was there. "I wondered what he'd want it for."

"He must've known he might die. He wanted us to be prepared." River observed.

"Okay. But if we're going to do this we should give him a proper send off." Rory concluded. "He deserves that much."

They placed his body on a little rowboat and set it ablaze, watching it drift away at sunset. Amy remained silent all the while keeping to the edge of the group. After the Doctor's body vanished into the darkness, River finally broke their solemn silence.

"There has to be something more." She thought aloud, turning to address Mr. Valda. "There must be some reason he called us here."

"The Doctor clearly knew that he was in danger." Rory observed.

"Yes, but if it was as simple as that, then why did he keep us from helping him?" River countered. "There's something we're missing… You, Valda was it? Why did you come here?" Mr. Valda pulled a TARDIS-blue envelope out of his breast pocket.

"He sent me these coordinates, a date and time, nothing more."

"Me as well." River noted pulling out her own and comparing the two.

"Us too." Rory added. Amy fished their invitation out of her rucksack and passed it to him.

"They're exactly the same…except." River scrutinized the numbers that were carefully inked onto the corner of each seal. "Four," She passed Valda's back to him. "Three," She passed him hers. "Two… Where's one? …It's a clue. He called us here, the people he trusted, and he numbered each envelope very meticulously. We need to find who received the first envelope. Who would the Doctor trust most?"

"What does it matter? He's dead." Amy dismissed.

"Because he still needs us." River responded. "He called us here for a reason, dead or alive, he's still counting on us to finish this." Amy went silent again, not buying it.

"We stopped at a diner on our way here." Mr. Valda recalled. "I thought I saw him leaving when I was taking my order."

"It's a start." River decided.

* * *

River, Amy and Rory entered the diner together after exchanging a hasty farewell with . He had gotten an urgent call from a 'Mrs. Fredrick' about some work related issue that simply could not wait, and had left them with the promise that he and his people (whoever they were) would look into the Doctor's murder.

"Look." Rory prompted, pointing to the far booth. There was another familiar, blue envelope on it. River picked it up and checked the flap.

"Number one." She confirmed. Amy slumped into the booth, while Rory went over to the counter to ask the worker about it.

"Did you see who was sitting at that booth?"

"Some guy." The man replied with a shrug.

"What did he look like?"

"I dunno. He ordered a float, paid in cash. What do I care?"

River let out an impatient sigh and opened her mouth to respond, when Koschei stepped through the door that she and Amy were facing.

"I'm simply saying that you could've thought it over first." He was telling someone over his shoulder. "It's not as though we were going to miss anything. We live in a time-machine! Oh, hello Bhai. You've been crying. What's wrong?" Amy jumped up and hugged him tightly, almost beginning to cry all over again.

"You don't—" River began, then her mouth dropped open as the Doctor stepped through the door behind him.

"Doctor?" Rory questioned, understandably confused.

"Yep, just me. I went back to get my special straw." The Doctor explained. "It adds extra fizz."

"You…" Amy said angrily.

"Not who you were expecting? Bit of a surprise I guess." The Doctor continued oblivious. "You know me. Can't resi—" River slapped him, hard, across the face. Koschei raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

"That is cold Doctor, even for you." River accused.

"Ow! What'd I do?" The Doctor inquired, touching his cheek. Rory scowled at him.

"Seriously?" Amy said, glaring at the Doctor with her hands on her hips. River squinted at the Doctor's bewildered expression thoughtfully.

"You really don't know do you?"

He shook his head.

"How old are you?" Rory asked.

"What? 906. Why?"

"You received one of the envelopes, right?" River guessed.

"You're holding it." Koschei finally piped in, sliding into the booth. Amy frowned at them before sitting down beside him. "Care to explain?" Koschei added, looking up at River. She shook her head.

"Sorry I slapped you." She admitted as the rest of them took their seats in the booth.

* * *

Koschei and Rory sat side by side on the stairs watching the Doctor mess with the TARDIS controls while Amy and River hovered closer to him, having some kind of silent argument.

"So we're going now, then?" Amy asked. The Doctor nodded mutely.

"You've got the coordinates wrong." River observed.

"No I haven't. We aren't going to the sixties."

"But we have to." Amy exclaimed. The Doctor walked around the other side of the drive pillar and slumped into his seat.

"Why?" He responded flatly. "Who says?"

"We can't tell you." River replied before Amy could.

"No." The Doctor shot back.

"We have to." Amy protested.

"Then tell me why?" The Doctor insisted. Amy looked over at River and she shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere until I know what's going on."

"We told you." River said. "Something big happens in America in 1969 and it has something to do with—"

"Canton Everett Delaware III. Yes, I know but there's something else you aren't telling me. Why is that?"

"You just need to trust us on this." River hedged. The Doctor stood and stepped up to her.

"Well, too bad. I can't say that I _do_ trust you, River Song. Who are you, really? All I know for certain is that you knew me in my future, and that you'll kill—"

"Theta!" Koschei warned, and the Doctor's mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

"Then, trust _me_." Amy said, drawing him out of his staring match with River. "We need to do this."

"Do you mean that?" The Doctor clarified moving closer to her and continuing more quietly. 'If someone is making you say that. You know you can tell me, if someone's threatening you."

"No one's making me say it." Amy assured him. "It's the truth. I promise. Just trust me." The Doctor stared into her eyes for a long moment before pulling away and nodding.

"Fine." He relented. "1969, here we come."

* * *

The Doctor landed the TARDIS, in stealth mode within the oval office itself. River quickly corrected a slight mistake at the controls while he wasn't looking, so that they really were in stealth mode. The Doctor turned to look suspiciously at her. She became the perfect portrait of innocence.

"Let's see what they're talking about shall we?" The Doctor said, letting it go. "The visual feed won't work in stealth mode. Be back in a minute." The Doctor announced, leaving the TARDIS. River and Koschei watched him go, catching a glimpse of Agent Canton Everett Delaware III conversing with President Nixon at his desk through the closing doors.

"Would you like to do the honors, or shall I?" Koschei inquired, leaning casually against the console with his arms crossed. River smiled.

"I've got it this time, Dear." River said, pulling the closest screen closer and hitting a few switches.

"What are you doing?" Rory asked.

"Getting us a peek at what's going on out there."

"But the Doctor just said we couldn't get a visual during stealth mode." Amy said, peering over her shoulder.

"He did, didn't he?" River remarked as the visual feed appeared on screen. "Bless."

The Doctor had wandered towards the desk and was taking notes on the two humans' conversation, something about mysterious calls from an unknown child… when they noticed him. Agent Delaware jumped out of his seat, in surprise.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get into the oval office!" Nixon demanded.

"Oh, um… Right, _this_ is the oval office. My mistake. Love what you've done with the place." The Doctor rambled, backing away. "No need to call security, I'll just—" He turned and walked right into the side of the cloaked TARDIS, falling to the floor. Inside, Koschei shook his head.

"Honestly, Theta. _Every_ time…" He remarked fondly as Nixon, then Agent Delaware, called for security. Agent Delaware tackled the Doctor, being joined by two more Secret Service Agents a second later. Koschei smirked, clearly enjoying this.

"That seemed unnecessary." Rory noted. River began to busy herself with the controls.

"River? Kos? A little help, please?" The Doctor called. "I know you've got the feed working by now." Koschei and River exchanged a look.

"I _hate_ him." River commented, flipping a few switches. Koschei took his time on turning his dial, wanting to savor the moment. The Agents outside backed off a bit at the sight of the TARDIS' sudden appearance.

"See: I belong here, actually. The Doctor explained, flashing his psychic paper and taking a seat behind the desk. "Good evening, Mr. President." He joked in a fake American accent. Canton looked intrigued. The other Secret Service Agents all aimed their weapons at him.

"Hold your fire." Agent Delaware ordered long-sufferingly.

"Oh, you Americans and your guns." The Doctor chastened. Nixon turned to look askance at Canton.

"I'd like the chance to hear what he has to say, Sir." The Agent clarified, watching the Doctor with interest.

"My team and I can solve this for you in no time at all." The Doctor assured him.

"Your team?" Nixon echoed. The Doctor nodded and whistled.

"You can come out now." He called, and the others filed out of the TARDIS, holding up their hands, except Koschei. The older Timelord just crossed his arms over his chest looking characteristically unconcerned.

"Any other brilliant ideas, Dr. Smith?" He said drily.

"Meet my team. I'm the Doctor. The grumpy ginger over there is the Master." The Doctor introduced. Koschei glared at him. "Then there's the Legs; on her right, there's the Nose, and…Mrs. Robinson." The Doctor finished, indicating River.

"I hate you." River responded.

"Your orders, Sir?" One of the Agents requested, looking to Nixon. Nixon squinted at the Doctor for a moment, then turned to Agent Delaware.

"I say we give them a chance." Canton advised.

"Thanks." The Doctor said, smiling.

"What are you nuts? Sir, let us handle them." Another Agent demanded.

"…if he can't deliver, we shoot him." Canton continued, ignoring them both.

"Not so thanks." The Doctor amended.

"This man got in here undetected with a seven foot tall police box and four associates, and _that_ is the guy that he slipped past." Agent Delaware elaborated, indicating the other Agent. "Which one do you think is more worth listening to?" Nixon considered this before nodding his assent.

"We can solve this in no time." The Doctor told Canton. "All I need is a few maps, some jammy-dodgers and a fez." The Agent eyed him for a second before deciding.

"Get him his maps."

* * *

"Found it." The Doctor said, pointing to a mark on the map that he was currently perusing.

"Finally." Koschei responded from where he was lounging unhelpfully in a nearby chair as Agent Delaware came to look.

"You're an absolute genius." He observed.

"I know." The Doctor agreed, swatting at Koschei's foot. "Get your feet off my maps." Koschei's ghostly-silver eyes stared coolly up at him as he obeyed. Agent Delaware raised an eyebrow. "He gets troublesome when he's bored." The Doctor explained in a stage-whisper. "It's best to just ignore him." Koschei was about to voice a characteristically biting reply when he noticed Amy staring transfixed at something out in the hall.

"You alright, Love?" He inquired, jolting Amy out of her trance. Rory straightened from where he'd been bent over another map and walked up to grab her arm when her balance wavered.

"No, yes, I'm fine. I just—" Amy looked back out into the hall, perplexed. She could remember seeing someone, maybe someone frightening. Why couldn't she remember what she saw?

"Which is it? Yes or no?" Koschei teased.

"I'm fine. I just need a minute." Amy assured Rory, heading for the doorway. One of the other Agents stepped forward to block her path. "I'm just going to the restroom." Amy told him.

"I'm sorry Ma'am, but you need to stay with the others for the time being." The Agent said solemnly. Canton rolled his eyes.

"Just shut up and take her to the bathroom."

* * *

Amy splashed water onto her face, trying to wake herself up and turned of the taps. She took a deep breath, still casting about in her mind, trying to breach the odd fogginess in her memory. Some of her memories were blurred. It was like they'd been forced out of focus. She didn't know how or why, but she was determined to figure it out.~_ It was something important.~_ She looked up at her own reflection as she wiped the water off her face then gasped and spun around to face the other being she'd noticed standing behind her.

"Do not scream." The alien instructed. Its voice was a cross between a whisper and a growl. Neither of which seemed particularly appealing to Amy at the moment. She realized that this was what she'd seen but couldn't retain. She side-stepped with her back to the sink until she could back away to the other end of the restroom, never removing her gaze from it for even a millisecond.

"What are you, and what do you want?" She demanded, retrieving her mobile-phone from her back pocket.

"It does not matter what we are. We will have what we desire soon enough."

"Sounds terrific. Why not tell me anyways, eh? If it doesn't matter…" Amy tried, snapping a picture of it with her camera-phone.

"You will tell the Doctor."

"Tell him what?"

"You will tell the Doctor what he needs to know, and what he must never know." The alien replied. Amy tensed when another woman entered the restroom, walking right up to the sink beside to the Münch-esque, suited alien.

"Get back!" Amy warned. The other woman jumped and turned to her. "Get away from it!"

"Get away from what, Honey?" The woman asked.

"Look behind you!"

The woman turned and put a hand to her heart.

"Oh my! Wow! Nice costume! Fred, is that you in there?" She questioned, leaning closer.

"No! Keep away from it!" Amy urged. The woman turned to address her then frowned.

'What's wrong?"

"It's not a costume. You need to keep away from it!" Amy insisted.

"Away from what, Honey?" The woman asked. Amy's eyes widened. The thing reached out, opening its mouth when the poor woman turned back to face it and electricity arced towards it from all around them, building until with a surge of charge, the woman was incinerated before her eyes. There was nothing left in her place but a sad little pile of black ash. Amy turned and bolted from the room, knocking into the Agent assigned to escort her in her haste.

"Whoa, careful! Is something wrong?"

"I have to tell the Doctor." Amy announced.

"Tell him what, Ma'am?" The Agent queried. Amy blinked. She wasn't sure. _~No, not again! I was so close!~_

"Nothing."

"What is that?" The Agent said pointing to her mobile.

"That? Nothing, it's just my phone." She dismissed. "Come along. We should get back to the others."

* * *

"Gotcha!" The Doctor exclaimed, stopping the recording with a smile on his face. "I've found your mystery child. If it _is _a child." Canton's brows rose, catching the added utterance, but the Doctor just waved it off. "You never know. Where's Amy? There you are. Good. We're off then."

"What?" Canton said as the others filed obediently into the TARDIS.

"Ah, yes." The Doctor said on his way to the doors. "Agent Delaware, under no circumstances are you to follow me into the TARDIS and shut the doors behind you on your way in." Sure enough Canton darted into the TARDIS right behind him, staring in awe at the inexplicably spacious interior.

"There he is." Koschei remarked from his perch atop the lower staircase. "Bigger on the inside. I know. Always fascinates the natives."

"Behave." Amy chastened.

"I've won the bet." The Doctor reminded him.

"Later tonight." Koschei returned, drawing various intrigued reactions from River, Amy, and Canton. "Get your mind out of the gutter." Koschei responded.

"You put it there." Rory mumbled.

"What was that, Eeyore?" Koschei challenged and Rory shot the Doctor a pointed look.

"This is what I was talking about." Rory said as they landed. "What is with him?" The Doctor avoided eye-contact.

"We're here. Come on, you three." The Doctor prompted, hurrying out of the TARDIS. Canton did a double take at the sight of the view through the open doors.

"We've moved." He observed.

"Yes. Rory, you handle this one." The Doctor instructed, nodding to the overwhelmed Agent and patting the procrastinating Koschei on the top of his head as he passed.

"Is this punishment or something?' Rory inquired unhappily.

"Nope. You're just the newest." Koschei responded, tidying his hair and ducked out of the TARDIS.

* * *

"You're certain she's still here?" Koschei inquired as he and the Doctor searched an empty office in the abandoned warehouse.

"Not 100%, but pretty sure." The Doctor admitted.

"Perhaps we should—"

"Doctor!" River's voice called from further into the warehouse. They jogged out to join the others. They were standing over a pile of space-faring supplies. Including a big, white astronaut's helmet.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for reading this. Please review.


	2. The Impossible Astronaut

**Chapter Two: The Impossible Astronaut**

"That's interesting." The Doctor observed, picking up the helmet and looking it over. "It's all real human space faring equipment, native to the current time frame."

"Perhaps this is what she meant when she referred to the 'spaceman' that was coming to get her." Koschei theorized, jumping up to sit on a stack of packing crates behind the Doctor.

"Wait. _Her_?" Canton asked. He was still playing catch up, after his transition to the reality of a much grander universe.

"Yes. The caller was a little girl. Jefferson, Adams, and Hamilton were street signs outside the window." The Doctor explained. "I was just discussing it with Koschei a moment ago."

"Yes. Please feel free to tell him how great he is again. His ego could always do with further inflation." Koschei put in drily. The Doctor ignored it with the skill born of centuries of experience.  
"So our spaceman might not be a spaceman." Rory concluded, following his lead. Koschei shook his head. He looked like he was considering coming forward to join them but couldn't come to terms with the overall dirtiness of the dark, mildew-scented warehouse around him. It appeared that this regeneration was a bit of a clean-freak.

"Well… could be." The Doctor disagreed. "The technology that the girl was using is anachronistic at least, if not extraterrestrial in origin."

"Then why all this kit?" Amy pointed out.

"I dunno. 'Cause it's cool?" The Doctor replied, putting the helmet over his head. "See: cool!" The Doctor said, giving Amy a thumbs-up. Koschei rolled his eyes.

"Well, that certainly presents some interesting possibilities." Rory noted.

"So you're all time-travelers from the future, then." Canton deduced. River slid the lid the rest of the way off of the man hole behind him.

"Yes, certainly." The Doctor confirmed.

"River?" Koschei called questioningly, finally popping down off his perch on the crates.

"Where are you going?' Amy asked, turning to regard the other woman.

"Someone removed and replaced this lid before we got here." River explained. "I'll pop down and have a look." She began to climb down the ladder into the pitch blackness below.

"Is that wise?" Rory inquired. After all, they had already seen the 'astronaut' kill one of their number once in the last twenty four hours.

"Maybe not, but that's what makes it fun." River replied cheekily before dropping out of sight.

"Be careful." The Doctor called after her.

"I wouldn't worry about it. We've seen her future." Koschei commented, noticing the odd reaction the remark got from Amy and filing it away for later. "She seemed perfectly fine to me." He looked around at the others for a second, then announced. "This is boring. I'm going off to explore." And strolled off into the unexplored areas of the abandoned warehouse, gracefully avoiding a ridiculously-long string of hanging dust.

"What?" The Doctor squeaked. "Where?" Koschei waved his hand in a careless, and entirely unenlightening gesture without bothering to look back at them.

"Find me if something interesting happens." He replied, pulling a cigarette out of the pocket of his long, cream-colored duster and lighting it with a minor burst of sparks from his palm. The Doctor frowned. He'd been trying to get the other Timelord to quit for most of the three months they'd been travelling alone together. Amy eyed the Doctor's irritated expression and sighed.

"Fine." She said long-sufferingly. "I've got him." Rory passed her his flashlight and she jogged after the wayward alien.

"One rule!" The Doctor muttered to himself as he scanned a piece of equipment with his sonic. "Honestly! Just one rule. Does anyone follow it?"

"I do." Rory pointed out, despite the Doctor's muted tone.

"Yes… Thank you, Rory. You actually _haven't_ wandered off." The Doctor admitted as River resurfaced clearly out of breath.

"You okay?" Canton inquired. River nodded, then paused, looking mildly perturbed. "Did you find anything?" Canton prompted, raising an eyebrow at her odd behavior.

"No. Nothing interesting." River reported, seeming to shake herself. She smiled and said. "Aren't there two rules, Doctor?"

"Well yes, but the second one's just too practical even to count really." The Doctor replied, as Rory wondered how the hell she did that. The woman seemed to have this strange knack for popping up, sometimes seeming to appear almost out of nowhere, yet always being completely up-to-speed on whatever Koschei and/or the Doctor had said in her absence.

"What's the second rule?" Canton asked, pulling Rory out of his thoughts.

"Don't antagonize the Master." Rory recited helpfully. River chuckled at the incredulous look that earned from the Agent.

"Oh, you'll learn." She assured him. "I'm going back for another quick look." And then she was gone again.

"River…" The Doctor called. "Be careful!"

"Whatever you say, Sweetie." She called back without sounding the least bit sincere.

"Someone should probably keep an eye on her." Rory noted. The Doctor sent him a meaningful look.

"Yes. You're right." He agreed.

"I wasn't volunteering." Rory protested.

"And yet, in a way you were." Canton remarked, not looking away from the items on the rudimentary metal shelf that he was surveying. Rory narrowed his eyes at the shorter man.

"Please?" The Doctor pushed.

"Alright." Rory conceded. "River? Wait up. I'm coming too." He glanced back up at the Doctor saying simply: "You owe me." Before ducking out of view.

"Wow. Not too popular, I gather." Canton observed.

"They have their reasons." The Doctor returned. "So, Canton Everett Delaware III, why aren't you still an agent? President Nixon himself seems to think that you're just the man for the job. What did you do?"

"That's a bit personal." Canton replied, then shrugged. "I wanted to get married."

"Married…" The Doctor echoed, surprised. "Since when is that breaking the—" He was cut off by the sound of a gunshot, then a scream from the direction Amy and Koschei had gone.

He and Canton exchanged a look as Canton drew his gun. They both hurried off toward the source of the noise.

* * *

"What is this place?" Rory queried, looking at the seemingly endless rock tunnel that he and River were exploring.

"It looks like someone hollowed out this network of tunnels eons ago." River explained brushing more thick cobwebs out of her face, and frowning in irritation when a drip of unclean water went right in her eye. "Ack! Ugh. According to my wrist strap, these tunnels span all across the city and probably much farther still."

"Probably?" Rory echoed.

"They spread outside scanner-range." River told him still rubbing furiously at her tearing eye with the back of her sleeve.

"Ah. If this place is really that old." Rory thought aloud, looking at a heavy metal door in the rock wall up ahead. "With this level of technology…"

"Its creators were most likely extra terrestrial in origin." River finished the thought, crouching down in front of the door-controls. "Isn't it exciting?!"

"What are you doing?"

"This is sealed, so I'm breaking in."

"That probably isn't—" Rory began.

The door popped open with a clank and a hiss. River grinned victoriously.

"All finished!" She announced and proceeded into the chamber without a trace of the caution appropriate to the situation. She pulled out her gun and swept the room for threats as Rory followed after her with less enthusiasm. "All clear. Watch the door, would you, Eeyore?"

"Yes." Rory agreed. "But, please don't. I'm not even sure why I let Koschei call me that."

"Right then." River said, inspecting a dusty old panel on the huge, circular console that took up the center of the chamber. _~Odds are she was completely ignoring me just then.~ _Rory remarked internally.

"Let's see what we've got here…" River continued to think aloud. Rory shifted his attention to the doorway. Still an empty cave. _~Well. At least if things remain __**this**__ quiet, I won't have to worry about anyone else ending—What was that!~_ There was something moving in the shadows of the tunnel. It was distressingly large.

"River?" Rory alerted. The artificial lights of his visual sensors, usually hidden behind a false image of human retinas, flashed bright blue in response to his heightened stress.

"Yes. What is it?" River replied immediately, straightening up to regard him over the console.

"I s…" Rory began, turning to look back at her. He stalled, his eyes flickered for a second then his brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't know. Sorry. I think I might've just glitched or something." River eyed him intently, one hand resting on her pulse pistol.

"That's something, isn't it." She remarked in a neutral tone. "I didn't think biosynth could glitch." Rory shrugged flashing her a rueful smile as he searched for the fault in his processer. Then his frown deepened. There wasn't one.

"That's weird." He muttered. River drew her pistol.

"Get down!" She shouted opening fire as the eerie, over-extended silhouette stepped into view behind Rory, accompanied by a buildup of static charge. The creature zapped Rory when he turned to face it. Rory toppled to the floor with a loud 'thunk', revealing a large, smoking, black mark in the center of the android's chest. River swallowed and turned up the setting on her pistol. If their attacker could do that to a biosynth she really did _not_ want to consider what it would do to her.

* * *

"Koschei!" The Doctor shouted, running over to where Amy sat bent over his best friend's motionless form. He was lying face down on the dirt floor. Canton rested his free hand on Amy's shoulder, checking to see if she was alright.

"I'm okay. …Just a bump on the head." Amy assured him sounding dazed, as she watched the Doctor check Koschei's pulse. She relaxed a little when she saw his relieved expression.

"What happened?" Canton asked, sweeping the room for threats.

"I looked up and he was…" Amy gestured towards Koschei's unconscious body. Canton holstered his gun and caught her shaking hand.

"You're hurt."

"Wh—Oh no. It's not mine." Amy corrected, sounding as though she were just discovering it herself. The Doctor studied her with growing concern. She pulled out of Canton's grip and rolled Koschei over, using her actions as an excuse not to look at the others. There was a gun lying on the ground beside her. The Doctor picked it up and eyed it suspiciously.

"Just fired." He observed.

"Did I do that?" Amy muttered.

"Mmngh." Koschei groaned in response. He squinted up at them as he regained consciousness. His reflective lenses glowing green when the beam of Canton's flashlight shined on them. "Tht wass rude." He blinked, looking up at Amy's face. "Did you hit them?"

"Who?" Amy and the Doctor both asked. Koschei glared.

"I don't know. You were the one doing the shooting!" Koschei snapped. He looked around. "I guess not. You said something about changing the future. I thought we'd discussed that by the way. …Regardless, I was too busy being knocked out to catch much of it."

"I did?"

"What's wrong with you?"

"Master!" The Doctor chastened.

"Easy, Kid. I think she's got a concussion." Canton supplied. Koschei shot him a death glare.

"You know, if you weren't so surprisingly interesting for an ape, you'd be frying right now."

"What?" Canton replied, nonplussed.

"Master…" The Doctor scolded.

"That's a compliment." Amy translated. "…sort of. Wait. Was there a little girl?" Koschei paused in his hopeless efforts to wipe the dust off himself and raised his eyebrows at her, as if to say, 'Seriously? You're asking me?'

"Yep. Concussion."

"Okay…" Canton said awkwardly. "We should get back to the others."

"Agreed." The Doctor replied, helping Koschei up the floor. The older Timelord looked down at his dirty, suede duster and made a feline-sounding noise of complaint in his throat. The Doctor eyed him critically as he and Canton lifted Amy to her feet and the aforementioned agent ducked under her arm, helping her walk.

"Why is it me _every_ time?" Koschei grumbled bitterly, trailing behind. The Doctor ignored it as more of his usual melodrama. As far as he could tell, Koschei looked perfectly fine. There wasn't a scratch on him. The Doctor paused, catching sight of the extra footprints in the dust. There were two unidentified others. They'd been dragging something on their way out. He pondered this a moment, tucking the discovery away for later, when he noticed the third set of tracks that didn't belong to any of the TARDIS crew. Someone wearing a space suit had walked in through the doorway opposite them, stopped, then doubled back the way he or she had come.

As they neared the pile of space-faring equipment, they heard the sound of weapons fire coming from the open manhole.

"Naturally." Koschei remarked. The Doctor darted toward the opening but skidded to a stop at the sight of the many Münchesque aliens gathered on the other side, patiently waiting for their prey. The closest one opened its mouth, reaching out one long, slender limb towards him as the static charge began to build around it.

"Zi'jien!" Koschei cursed, starting towards the Doctor but Amy grabbed his arm.

"No! There'll be nothing left!" She warned, her eyes saucer-wide. The creature let off a shot and the Doctor barely managed to get out of the way in time.

"Alright, change of plan." He decided, taking a few hasty steps back and grabbing Koschei's hand. "Run!"

* * *

**A/N:** I know it's a little short. Sorry. I'm kinda busy at present. Started working on the next one though. So there's that. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Thanks for reading. Special thanks to Amphithere-Gray and Time Travelling Animagus for reviewing. Please do review.


	3. Outlawed

**Chapter Three: Outlawed**

PLAIN OF SIGHS, UTAH; THREE MONTHS LATER

Amy ran through the desert as fast as her legs could carry her. The hot sun was beating down on her mercilessly and her throat was parched from thirst, but she kept on going. The CIA's unmarked black cars were driving after her. She knew that, logically, they were going to win this one. They were going to catch her. She pushed herself harder, urging her body to move faster, and turned abruptly, leaping over a pile of weathered rock as she tried to lose her pursuers. The cars swerved to follow; they were way too close now. She hazarded one more quick glance over her shoulder and then gasped, skidding to a halt- just in time to catch herself from running right off the edge of a cliff.

"Shit!" She breathed, looking down at the drop before her. Agent Delaware and a few other suits were getting out of their cars behind her. Two of them rolled out an empty body bag on the ground near Agent Delaware as Amy turned to face them. There were black marks scribbled on her hands, arms, and even a few on the leg of her jeans.

"That's a body bag." Amy observed intelligently, eyeing it for a second. She shifted her gaze to look the ex-fed in the eye.

"Yes."

"It's empty."

"Imagine that." He responded, drawing his gun.

"You don't have to do this." Amy told him. "Do you even know _why_ you're doing this?"

"I know my orders, Miss Pond."

"You sure about that? Who's really in charge then, eh?" Amy persisted. "Just try to remember!" Canton blinked as a flash of motion crossed his mind.

'_What are you doing? Why are you running?'_

'_Canton: keep up! Hurry!' The Doctor urged._

'_Why?'_

_They're catching up!' Amy exclaimed. _

'_There's nothing there!' Canton insisted, becoming frustrated._

"_Look behind you!' Koschei snapped. Canton turned to see…_

"There is nothing wrong with my memory, Miss Pond." Agent Delaware assured the fugitive. "Any last words?" Amy stared back at him stone-faced, in silent reply. She stoically shut her eyes before he fired the shot.

* * *

WESTBROOK ENERGY FACILITY, TEXAS

Rory burst through the hatch and sped across the top of the walkway. The swarm of suits coming after him were close behind. He wasn't panicked though, not yet. He might not be able to outrun them, but he could more than outlast them. Machines don't get tired. Biosynth are no exception to this rule. All he had to do was keep going long enough to wear them down. This was becoming a bit difficult. There were too many of them in too close quarters, but he was managing. He was halfway across the top of the dam when his luck ran out. Another team of agents appeared ahead of him, blocking his path. He turned back. There were more coming up behind him.

"This is the end of the line." Agent Delaware informed him as he came to the front of the pack. Rory turned back to face him, watching mutely as he drew his gun. The marks were even scribbled on his face. Rory watched him, catching his breath before responding in a shaky-sounding voice.

"Fine. Then get it over with."

The suit eyed him approvingly. Then it was over.

* * *

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

River and Koschei hurried through the unfinished fiftieth story of the skyscraper, fleeing from the overlong, inhuman figures slipping in and out of sight around them.

"Koschei?" River called, whirling to look for the other companion when she found him suddenly missing. "Koschei?!"

"What?" Koschei responded, batting a sheet of hanging plastic out of his way as he strolled over to join her. The creatures had vanished again.

"I thought I'd lost you." River said sounding relieved. Koschei opened his mouth to speak, then stopped, grabbing her upper-arm when he caught sight of the silhouette on the other side of the plastic behind River.

"You, too." She alerted him tightly, looking at something over his shoulder. Koschei's pale silver eyes were flickering around the open space as River began to mark her arm with black tallies.

"Three, four…seven." Koschei observed, adjusting the collar of his shirt. "Yes. Seven of them. Oh, lovely. We're surrounded."

"Quiet, Dear. You're almost beginning to sound frightened." River cautioned. The figures on the other side of their pseudo-veil stepped closer. "We see you." River called to them.

"I don't think they care." Koschei responded. The sound of a door slamming drew their attention, and when they looked back, the creatures were gone. They heard a stampede of running feet coming towards them. River grabbed Koschei by the sleeve and dragged him across the room, flicking more plastic dividers out of the way, only to stop short when they were met with a gaping, soon-to-be-wall, opening out into the city.

"Oh no. Here comes the government." Koschei deadpanned as the agents surrounded them.

"Hold it right there." Agent Delaware ordered as he and his compatriots all aimed their weapons at them. Koschei smirked, raising his hands in a seemingly submissive gesture. River grabbed one of his hands, lacing her fingers through his.

"No, Master." River corrected. A few of the agents shot her inquisitive expressions, wondering what she was on about.

"Time to give it up folks." Agent Delaware announced in an even tone. "There's nowhere to left to run."

River looked up at Koschei.

"Trust me?"

"Nope."

"Too bad." She concluded and yanked him after her by their joined hands, leaping out the opening, which he took admirably well. Agent Delaware darted forward in shock to look.

* * *

The Doctor sat in his designated seat inside the heavily-guarded, top-secret, work area. It was another big, grey, open space of a building. It almost gave the illusion of freedom- almost. He was in a cordoned-off area, surrounded by armed security personnel. That, and he was sort of chained up. Canton walked up to the edge of his marked-off space. Two soldiers dragged over two body bags for the Doctor's viewing displeasure. He sniffed the air. _~Amy and Rory.~_

"I'm sorry about your friends." Agent Delaware told him sincerely.

"The others." The Doctor replied, retaining his unreadable mask.

"We cornered Miss Song and the other Pond in New York. They took a nosedive from the fiftiethth floor." Agent Delaware told him. The Doctor frowned slightly at that, before his mask fell back into place.

"Both of them? Really?"

"She didn't give him a choice." Agent Delaware elaborated.

"Ah." The Doctor acknowledged. _~That makes more sense.~ _

"You can make this easier on yourself you know." Agent Delaware continued. "If you cooperate." The Doctor went back to watching the technicians stack the smooth black blocks around him.

"This." The Doctor gestured to their work in progress with his chained hands. "Is pure Dwarf-star Alloy. It's extremely rare, coming from the center of a white-dwarf star. You're building me the perfect prison." He concluded, finally glancing up to meet the human's eyes. "And it still won't be enough to hold me."

* * *

It didn't take them much time at all to finish constructing the Doctor's 'perfect prison'. The Doctor waited inside it for Agent Delaware. The human did not disappoint, coming in and sealing himself inside. The Doctor just stared at the body-bags that the agent had been sure to have moved in with him, until the door was fully sealed. He ignored the spiel about how '_nothing_ was getting in or out of here'.

"You done?" The Doctor asked, looking up at him.

"Yep." Canton confirmed.

"My sonic screwdriver." The Doctor prompted, catching the gadget when Canton tossed it to him. "Thank you." He knelt down next to Amy's body bag and switched the setting, then sonic-ed a spot just between her eyes. She woke with a start, coughing and smacking her lips at the unpleasant taste.

"Ugh! That's vile. How long was I under?" She inquired, watching the Doctor go over to Rory and knock four times on the biosynth's chest, without unzipping the bag.

"Twenty four hours since last time." Canton admitted. Amy glared at him. "Sorry. I had a lot going on."

Rory sat up in his unopened body bag.

"Oi! Doctor!" He protested, scratching at the zip. The Doctor reached up and undid it. "What the hell?" Rory asked in annoyance.

"Next time, don't let the Master choose your retrieval-code." The Doctor told him primly. Canton raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"Where_ is_ Koschei?" Amy asked, looking around the cell.

"Shall we get moving?" Canton suggested, dodging the question.

"Yes, of course." The Doctor agreed. He went over and leaned on the cloaked TARDIS. "All aboard!" He announced with a smile, opening the doors with a click of his fingers.

"Where are Koschei and River?" Rory queried, running up the steps to stand beside the Doctor at the console.

"We're picking them up, now." The Doctor replied, his hands dancing over the controls.

"But they're gone." Canton reminded him uncertainly. "I told you, they dropped off a skyscraper."

"Yes, I remember. Fifthieth floor, was it?" The Doctor responded easily.

"Yeah but…"

"Wonderful! Amy, could you go open the outer doors to the swimming pool, please?" The Doctor instructed and Amy hurried off to do just that.

"Wh—" Canton muttered. A moment later, they heard a big splash.

"Time and Space." Rory reminded Canton.

"Brace yourself." The Doctor warned.

"What's wrong?" Canton asked.

"Oh, nothing. It's just that all that pool water is going to put Kos in one of his moods." The Doctor clarified. Rory winced.

* * *

"There you are!" The Doctor greeted, jumping up out of his seat at the sight of an expressionless Koschei finally descending the stairs to join them in the console room. He had changed out of his soaked clothes into a white turtleneck and white pants. Amy found herself wondering what it was with this regeneration and the color white. The Doctor wondered when exactly they'd acquired the white Converse that he was wearing. Koschei stared down at the Doctor as he used a blood-red towel to dry his fiery-red curls.

"You were right. That's look #4." Rory muttered. Koschei shifted his gaze to Rory, having caught it anyway. Rory quickly looked away.

"Okaay! So, now that we're all here…" Amy prompted, breaking the awkward silence.

"Yes, right!" The Doctor said, going into explanation mode. "Now, we're fighting an unknown enemy that removes our memory of ever seeing them as soon as we look away." He said pushing some buttons on a strange device he'd just pulled out from under the console. "Your right hand, please." Amy held it out to him and he held the device to her palm. The gadget gave a little hiss.

"Ow!" She exclaimed, but the Doctor had already moved on to Rory, who barely protested, his eyes merely flashing blue for a second, then River.

"How do they do that? Not sure yet, but give me time…" The Doctor continued, ignoring River's undignified squeak. "Canton."

"Ouch!"

"Thank you." The Doctor responded unapologetically, turning to Koschei. The other Timelord just narrowed his eyes at him. "Koschei…" The Doctor prompted.

"No."

"Don't be difficult." The Doctor urged in a hushed tone. Koschei threw his towel at him. "Phff!" The Doctor pulled the towel off his head and looked reproachfully at Koschei, who was currently not-hiding behind River. "Fine. Anyway, the only way to fight them is to somehow record their presence while they're still in sight. Our memory, even Amelia's, is apparently unreliable."

"Those marks you all had all over yourselves." Canton recalled.

"Yes, exactly. A tally for every one we'd seen." Koschei replied.

"…Except you." Canton noted.

"I had River." Koschei returned flatly.

"There's something wrong with you." River noted sounding oddly affectionate. "He doesn't like getting messy."

"So what did you just do to us?" Amy inquired, bringing them back to the matter at hand.

"I've just injected you all with receivers. Tap your palm, like so, when you see one of them." The Doctor said, demonstrating. "And they'll begin recording audio. Just say what you're seeing. They light up when they have a recording on them so you can see that you've had an encounter. Then just tap it again to hear the recording." He said and did so. They heard his voice once again.

"_And they'll begin recording audio. Just say what you're seeing."_

"Pretty neat, isn't it?" The Doctor said with a smile. "Koschei, want to give me your hand now?

"I'll stick with R- Amy." Koschei said, correcting himself, mid-word at the look Amy shot him. River eyed the two of them interestedly but didn't call them on it. The Doctor squinted at him suspiciously. Then he shifted his attention to the controls, setting the injector down on the console next to him.

Canton let his mind wander for a moment while the Doctor's attention was elsewhere, then looked back as he turned around. Canton reached up and straightened the Doctor's bowtie. When he looked back up, everyone else was staring at him.

"What?"

"Why did you do that?" Koschei asked, watching him intently.

"Do what?"

"My bowtie." The Doctor said. Canton shrugged. The Doctor looked down and away.

"Look at your hand." River instructed. Canton frowned; in the very center of his palm was a blinking red light. He looked questioningly up at the Doctor and tapped his palm.

"_Look! It's here! It's—How did one of them get in here?!" Canton's voice exclaimed._

"_Canton, remain calm. I want you to turn around and when you do, reach up and straighten my bowtie." The Doctor's voice responded evenly._

"_It'll be right behind—"Canton's voice was interrupted by an impatient Koschei._

"_Just do it, Human."_

Canton frowned, exchanging a look with the Doctor who looked at something over his shoulder. Canton turned around to see one of the creatures standing a few feet behind him. He stared. It flickered?

"This hologram was created from an image that Amy snapped of one of the creatures while we were in the oval office." The Doctor explained. "I want you to take a good look at it, Canton. Really look at it." Canton studied the creature for a moment, then the Doctor flipped a switch, dissolving the hologram. "Good. Now: describe it to me."

Canton stalled for a moment, trying to recall what he'd just seen. Even the basics, the simplest of details, had simply slipped his mind.

"I can't." He admitted. Amy frowned, looking over at Koschei. Koschei shrugged.

"Neither can I." He agreed.

"Hmm. Yes, that's interesting." The Doctor thought aloud. "So it works even with images of the creatures. You simply can't recall their appearance, but you _did_ remember the orders you heard while observing the image, if only subconsciously."

"Post hypnotic suggestion?" Rory guessed.

"Mmm." River agreed.

"So that's what they're up to: ruling the world with post hypnotic suggestion." The Doctor concluded.

"Brilliant." Koschei purred. Rory shot him a look. "…but flawed." Koschei continued, ignoring him. "There _are_ limits."

"Master…" The Doctor chastened.

"I'm with you, M'oshyi." Koschei assured him blandly. "Doesn't mean I can't appreciate the competition."

"We'll stop them." The Doctor stated, fussing with the controls. Koschei covertly flipped a few switches when he wasn't looking so that they didn't get as much turbulence.

"First thing we've got to do is look into children's homes."

"Children's homes?" Amy echoed.

"That little girl had to have come from somewhere." The Doctor clarified.

"But you said these things are everywhere!" Canton pointed out. "How are we supposed to stop that kind of an invasion? We're only five people!"

"We aren't stopping the invasion." The Doctor corrected. "The invasion ended a long time ago. Don't you get it? They're already everywhere. We've checked. Thousands of them, spread out all over this planet. They're not invaders. They're occupiers, ruling from the shadows… Doesn't matter though, because we've got a secret-weapon." The Doctor announced dramatically as they landed, striding out the doors.

"The rocket." Koschei deadpanned, unimpressed, and stepped back into the TARDIS.

"Oh, yes!" The Doctor confirmed, staring proudly at Apollo 11.

"How?" River asked, a little more open minded than the grumpy alien. The Doctor just grinned at them and winked.

* * *

Canton reached up and knocked on the weather-worn, wooden door of the latest orphanage. Amy was standing beside him, continuing to eye Koschei over her shoulder. He sat on the doorstep, as close to the edge as he dared, shielding himself from the pouring rain with her navy-blue umbrella. She'd been watching him a lot lately. Every time she did she looked less perplexed and more concerned.

"Something wrong?" Canton inquired.

"I don't know…" Amy replied distractedly. Canton looked from her to the bored-looking alien behind him. _~Looks alright to me. I wonder-~_ That thought was derailed by the door finally swinging open to reveal a distressed-looking older man.

"Hello, folks. What can we do for you tonight?" The old man asked in a shaky but pleasant voice. Koschei raised an eyebrow at him.

"Good evening, Mr. Ripley. I'm sorry about the late hour." Canton said, flashing a badge. "I'm Agent Delaware and these are my associates Mr. and Ms. Pond. We would like to ask you a few questions pertaining to a missing person investigation we're working on."

"Oh… I see…" The old man murmured. Koschei squinted at him inquisitively and stood, needlessly straightening his pristine, white, leather, bomber jacket in the same motion.

"Um… Could we please come in?" Amy prompted gently. The elderly man seemed to startle at the request but then stepped aside, blinking rapidly.

"Yes… Oh, yes of course, Dear. Come on in." Mr. Ripley stuttered in the same timid-yet-inviting voice. Canton flashed Koschei a WTF look as they followed Amy inside. Koschei just observed him with his usual neutral expression as he twirled Amy's umbrella once in his left hand before tossing it to Amy without looking. She caught it effortlessly, also without looking. _~Show offs.~_ Canton thought to himself, wondering if they were twins the way they acted. Then he noticed the taller man sniffing the air out of the corner of his eye as they were led towards the stairs.

"My office is up this way." Said Mr. Ripley, hugging the railing as he continued up the staircase.

"You know, we almost didn't come here at all." Canton mentioned, noticing the way that Koschei was lagging behind them, keeping just close enough to Canton to use him as a human shield. He brushed that thought away. _~Yeah, like he'd do __**that**__.~_

"Oh?" Mr. Ripley responded distractedly.

"According to the records this place was closed down in 1967." Canton explained.

"Yes, that's the plan." Ripley confirmed.

"Excuse me?" Amy asked.

"We close in '67, yes."

"It's 1969." Canton returned.

"No '67, that's when we close."

Amy frowned at him, pausing by a big, water-stained patch of wall just above the landing. It had the words 'GET OUT!' scratched into it by some sharp object, probably a penknife, if her experience with Koschei'd taught her anything. Canton paused on the landing to reply.

"No. You misunderstand me. It's 1969, right now."

"No… Can't be." Ripley muttered. "We close in '67." Before continuing up the stairs ahead of them.

"Did the children do that?" Amy inquired gesturing to the marks on the wall.

"Hmm? Yes… it must've been." Ripley confirmed. "This way."

Canton frowned at the older man. This was getting a bit creepy. Koschei stepped closer to whisper in his ear.

"This place smells wrong."

"How wrong?" Canton whispered back.

"Not human."

Canton nodded and continued towards the unkempt little office more cautiously.

"I'll talk to Ripley. You two can investigate while he's distracted."

"Mmm."

Canton paused halfway down the hall.

"And Koschei?" He called, as Koschei grabbed Amy's hand, turning to lead her away. The other paused to look back at him questioningly. "Stick together, would you?"

Koschei smirked in amusement.

"Yes, Sir." He remarked, somehow managing to make that title sound incredibly condescending.

* * *

"So. You've kept this place running a long while." Canton remarked as he searched through a drawer in the obviously insane man's filing cabinet.

"Oh, I had to. Everything must be just right." The man returned.

"Why is that?"

"The child must be kept safe. They made that very clear."

"Who did?"

"Sorry, what did you?" Ripley murmured.

"You said they made that clear. Who're 'they'?" Canton tried again. The older man just frowned in confusion.

"I don't think so…"

* * *

Amy and Koschei wandered into an old, obviously abandoned dormitory. There was a row of white metal beds lined up against the walls on either side of them. Amy shined her flashlight over them as she stepped cautiously down the aisle.

"So…" Koschei began, lingering behind her, near to the door.

"So?" Amy responded, glancing back at him with a raised eyebrow before returning to her search for clues.

"What do they look like?"

"The creatures?"

"Of course, the creatures! I know you said you can't remember them clearly, but you remember something."

"Oh. You know that painting… the scream I think it's called?"

"Yes."

"I think they reminded me a bit of that wearing a suit. I still can't picture them though." Amy admitted.

"I see." Koschei said, nodding thoughtfully. "Well, it's better than nothing isn't it."

"I suppose." Amy admitted, then turned her flashlight on Koschei at a sudden shuffling sound.

He was gone.

"Koschei?" She called worriedly. There was nothing but silence. She hurried over to the door to look for him. It was locked. She wrestled with it more and more violently, finaly stepping back and kicking it out of sheer frustration. The doorjamb cracked a bit a couple shards of wood falling away. Amy laughed and punched the air… and that's when she saw the marks. They were all over the backs of her hands. She gasped and tried the door again. Not quite. She kicked the door. She yanked on the knob. Almost. Her hand was glowing and she tapped the receiver.

"_OhmyGod! There're too many of them." Came Amy's panicked whisper. _

"_Stay calm, Bhai. They seem to be asleep." Koschei assured her, equally quiet._

"_Okay… right. Let's just get—KOSCHEI LOOKOUT!" She heard herself scream then the recording stopped._

Amy clenched her jaw, lashing out at the locked door with new conviction. It burst open and she rushed out, ignoring the pain in her undoubtedly very bruised shoulder. There was a door ajar two rooms down the hall. It had a burn mark on it that Amy knew hadn't been there when they passed it. She ran inside, pulling the Master's laser out of her pocket as she entered. Koschei was lying sprawled on the floor, a line of blood dripping down the left side of his forehead from his hairline. Amy crouched down beside him and felt for his pulse, relieved to find one. The door slammed shut behind her. She looked up to find herself surrounded by the creatures. She tried to fire at one to keep them at bay but it surged forward and grabbed her face. Another one had her arm in an iron grip a second later. She struggled and fought against them but there were just too many.

"No! Leave us alone!" Amy shrieked. "Koschei!" She grabbed at the table leg beside her unconscious friend as they dragged her away, pulling the table with her for half a foot, and clawing at the wood of the floor when she lost grip.

"You will not escape." One of the creatures assured her. She drew in a deep breath and screamed as loudly as she could. She was _not_ going to let them win.

* * *

**A/N:** Thanks for reading this. Special thanks to princesspevensie, Amphithere-Gray, GuesssWho, and Time Travelling Animagus for the lovely reviews. As always I'd love to hear what you think of this.


	4. The Revolution Was Televised

**Chapter Four: The Revolution Was Televised**

Canton looked up, pushing the filing cabinet shut as Mr. Ripley went to answer the knock at his office door. He was speaking quietly with a suited someone who was much taller than he was. The rest of the mysterious visitor was blocked from view by the cracked open door.

"Mr. Ripley?" Canton asked. The old man quietly shut the door and wandered back over to his desk.

"Yes?"

"Who was that?"

"What?"

"Forget it." Canton muttered irritably, crossing the room to yank the door open. One of the creatures was standing on the other side of the threshold, staring down at him as if it had been waiting. Canton took a step back, his hand lingering over the concealed holster of his gun.

"Agent Delaware." The creature said in a voice that was a cross between a growl and a hiss.

"Congratulations. You know my name." Canton responded, not showing a hint of fear. "Not really that impressive is it, considering how you guys operate." He carefully tapped the receiver. The creature took a step forward, still staring imposingly down at him. "So who are you, then?" The creature tilted its head, making a soft, hissing sound. "Come on, why not? You know I won't remember any of this. What could I do?"

"Nothing." The creature growled. Canton regarded it expectantly.

"We are the Silence. We have ruled this planet since the fire and the wheel. You cannot resist us!" The 'Silence' hissed, stepping closer. The end of this little monologue was punctuated by a crash, and followed shortly by a scream from elsewhere in the house.

"Well, that sounds very impressive." Canton noted, drawing his gaze back to the Silence from where he'd been looking past it into the dark, empty hallway. "Are you armed?"

"We have no _need_ for weapons." The creature threatened.

"Really." Canton said, drawing his gun and shooting the Silence all in one smooth, practiced motion. He stepped over the wounded creature. "Welcome to America." He added as he left to help Amy and Koschei.

* * *

"Agent Delaware told me you have a plan to handle this… situation." Nixon prompted.

"And I do." The Doctor assured him, fiddling with one of the pens off the President's desk. He flipped it up into the air and caught it a few times. The President's eyes followed the movement for a moment before he pressed on.

"What exactly does this plan of yours entail, Dr. Smith?"

"Just Doctor please. I can't actually tell you." The Doctor replied easily.

"You can't tell me the details."

"I can't tell you my plan. The enemy could just draw it from you whenever they wanted and we can't have that, can we?" The Doctor explained turning to look back over his shoulder as River leaned out the TARDIS doors to address him.

"Sorry to interrupt, Sweetie, but Amy's distress beacon's just been triggered." She reported before ducking back inside. Rory replaced her a second later, holding his phone to his shoulder.

"Doctor, Canton just called. He says they're under attack."

"Excuse me, Mr. President." The Doctor told Nixon politely and hurried into the TARDIS.

* * *

Canton ran over to the closed, locked door, brushing his fingers over the burn-mark before he tugged at the knob. That clearly wasn't going to work.

"Miss Pond! Can you hear me?!" He shouted, ramming into the door in an attempt to bust it open. No response. "Amy? Koschei? Talk to me! What's going on in there?"

He rammed into the door, but this one was in far better shape than the one that Amy had fought open in the dormitory. "Someone reply!"

"Mpff. Agent Dela…" Came the dazed-sounding, muffled response from inside.

"Koschei! _Finally_. You kids alright in there?"

"Amy!"

"What about her? Is she hurt?"

"No…" Koschei trailed off unhelpfully. Canton blew out an aggravated breath.

"Listen, keep away from the door. I'm going to try and shoot the lock off." Canton advised.

"No, no. Out of the way, please." The Doctor prompted, jogging over to sonic the doorknob. "Thank you." They rushed into the room to find Koschei sitting on the floor, alone, holding a bloody, blinking device in his hand. He had a trail of blood down the left side of his face from a cut in his hairline.

"They took her." He stated blankly, his glowing eyes settling on the claw marks in the wooden floor that led to the turned-up edge of the worn blue rug. "…Removed her receiver." He held out the bloody, bead-like device in his hand. Rory glared at it as he accepted it. "She was talking at first… Automatic broadcast?" The Doctor nodded in confirmation.

"She wanted us to find her, naturally. I think they've sedated her now." Koschei continued. River knelt down in front of him, pulling a white bandana out of her pocket to begin wiping the blood off of his face. He scowled and batted at her hand but she just grabbed his hand with her free one and continued.

"Why'd they grab _her_?" The Doctor thought aloud. Rory and Koschei both glared at him for separate reasons.

"I can't remember that now, can I!?" Koschei snapped.

"What does it matter?! She trusted you! Don't you even care that she's gone?" Rory protested, nearly linking his exclamation with Koschei's.

"Of course I do! But we need to know what we're up against." The Doctor returned, containing his offence. He knew Rory didn't mean it. They were all under stress.

"Perhaps they were afraid she'd start to remember." River theorized. "Our forgetfulness is their main advantage, after all."

"She was." Koschei confirmed, drawing all their attention back to him.

"How much—" The Doctor's question was interrupted by a more distressed-looking Mr. Ripley rapping his knuckles on the doorframe to draw their attention.

"Excuse me. We need some help. There's a…." He scrunched his forehead in confusion. "I think someone was injured… someone's been shot? I can't…" The Doctor rushed past him, Rory and Canton exchanged a look before hurrying after him.

* * *

The Creature had dragged itself into the office to lean against the filing cabinet.

The Doctor crouched down in front of it so that they were at the same eyelevel. Canton started at the sight of his unremembered handiwork. He looked down at his revolver before holstering it, appearing mildly pleased with himself.

"Hello there. I'm the Doctor." The Doctor greeted evenly.

"I know who you are." The creature hissed as River and Koschei came to join them.

"And who are you then? What do I call you?" The Doctor queried. Koschei moved to stand behind him leaning against the open door.

"The Silence." Hissed the Silence, condescendingly.

"You've taken someone that is very dear to me." The Doctor said. The creature let out another growl/hiss. This one sounding like it might be a laugh. Koschei squinted down at it, but remained quiet. "Where have you taken her?"

"You are weak, Doctor. We have taken this world. We control your precious humanity. We will give you nothing."

"Oh yes, please be difficult." Koschei purred, rubbing his sparking hands together as he smiled down at the Silence, his fangs on full display. Canton took a discrete step away from him.

"Master, please." The Doctor corrected. Koschei raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why not?" He countered as smoothly as if they were discussing what to have for dinner. Perhaps in Koschei's case at least, that wasn't so far from the mark. "You know, I can be _very_ productive."

"Not that way." The Doctor disagreed. Koschei looked like he was about to argue. Rory, surprisingly enough, was the one to stop him with a hand on his shoulder.

"_She_ wouldn't want you to either." He told the angry Timelord in hushed voice. Koschei scowled down at him, looking a bit disgusted by the sentiment, but he did back off. The Silence hissed at him, apparently feeling encouraged by the show of mercy.

"Oh, I wouldn't get too cocky." Canton remarked. "Area 51 is no cake walk." River passed him Rory's mobile and he walked off to call it in. Koschei waited for the others to disperse and for the Doctor to finish questioning the creature, not moving from his place by the door. Two heavily muscled soldiers came in to carry the Silence out to their Jeep. The creature hissed at Koschei as they carried it past and he grabbed the edge of the stretcher, halting their progress. He growled at their captive hatefully.

"You will do nothing, Master." The creature sneered. "You are tamed, and your keepers would not approve." Koschei bent down to whisper into the creature's ear resting his hand on the Silence's wounded shoulder.

"I don't see them around." He pointed out, tightening his grip on the bullet wound until he had definitely burst a good number of the stitches the medic had administered. The Silence drew in a pained gasp. "Do you? …I'll be waiting." Koschei finished and drew back, releasing his grip on the stretcher.

* * *

A few days later, Canon stood inside the 'perfect prison' in area 51 watching Dr. Hamilton (their resident MD) treat the captive Silence. Just like last time, the man seemed more than a little preoccupied by the creature's strange appearance. It wasn't one of the species they'd encountered before after all.

"This thing looks like it's already being treated by somebody." Hamilton observed.

"That's right. By you." Canton informed him.

"What? I think I'd remember that."

"You would be wrong about that." Canton assured him with detachment. This pattern had gotten old fast, despite the comedic potential. Dr. Hamilton squinted at him in obvious irritation.

"Don't give me that crap. I haven't been notified about any of this." He gestured to the willfully mute Silence. It still seemed to be finding some amusement in this. "Who knows about this?" continued Hamilton.

"Just the two of us at the moment." Canton said truthfully.

"I don't like this, not at all. You can't just keep this thing in here without proper clearance." Hamilton grumbled, standing up.

"Is that so?"

"Yes it is. I'm going to make some calls to your superiors!" Hamilton threatened.

"You do that." Canton replied dismissively as the older man turned to leave. Hamilton hesitated halfway to the opening.

"Do what?'

"Exactly." Canton remarked drily. Dr. Hamilton frowned, confused.

"Did you need something, Agent?"

"No. You've done enough, Doc. Thank you for your time." Canton dismissed and the other man left, mumbling under his breath at being called away from his infirmary for nothing. After the threshold was resealed, Canton returned his attention to the prisoner, pulling a mobile phone out of his pocket. The creature spoke as he began to fuss with it, careful to follow the directions that the Doctor had given him.

"You are foolish." The Silence mocked.

"Is that so?"

"You are treating my wounds. We would show you no such mercy." The Silence continued. "We have taken your world. You should kill us all on sight."

"Well, thank you." Canton responded. "That's not exactly correct, but it_ is _exactly what I needed to hear. This, is a camera phone. I don't know what a camera-phone is… but I do know it just helped you to do most of my work for me." He opened the cell door and stepped out. "Looks like I don't need you anymore." He added before sealing the creature inside.

* * *

Back at the abandoned warehouse, The Doctor was looking over the spacesuit that they'd discovered abandoned not far from the orphanage.

"This is amazing! Look at all of this. It's a fully-functional life support system, with communications-access, and state of the art scanners, and…" River observed, taking stock of the obviously anachronistic additions to the suit. "Doctor, this suit is reinforced with some very durable materials; whoever fought their way out of here was incredibly strong."

"Good. I like them." The Doctor approved. "Incredibly strong and runs away from the fight. Sounds like my sort of person."

"It was the little girl." Koschei put in from where he sat moping on his pile of crates.

"The one who called Nixon?" Rory asked from his seat beside him. He was also brooding a bit, but he felt that he had the right to. His wife _had_ recently been kidnapped.

"Yes." Koschei replied as if it were obvious.

"Good. You _are_ paying attention." The Doctor noted. Koschei eyed him coolly for a second then turned to address Rory.

"So Eeyore, have you realized that the Doctor is entirely capable of locating and retrieving your wife at any time?" He asked matter-of-factly. The Doctor's gaze snapped up to Koschei from where he'd been inspecting the suit's hardware. Rory looked back and forth between the two before blowing out a tense sigh. _~It's probably true.~_

"Doctor?"

"Rory, I know that you want to find Amy, and I assure you that I want to help her just as much as you do—" The Doctor began quickly.

"Why are we waiting?" Rory asked, interrupting him with unexpected calm.

"Once we go, that's it: the final confrontation. I have a plan, but we aren't going to be able to stop them without something up our sleeve. I have it—Well, I almost have it." The Doctor rambled. "I will do soon and _then_ we will rescue Amy."

Rory studied the Doctor for a moment, still looking utterly depressed, then nodded.

"Fine."

"That's it? Just: '_fine'_?" Koschei inquired indignantly.

"Shut up." Rory responded, hopping down from his perch. River became unbelievably engrossed in her scrutiny of the suit's wiring as he trudged past her on his way to the TARDIS. Koschei watched him go with an impassive expression before turning on the Doctor.

"How do you do it, Theta? You inspire such irrational faith in them." He remarked bitterly. "It's like watching lemmings in slow-motion."

"It isn't a trick. I am trustworthy." The Doctor countered evenly. Koschei scoffed.

"_Bvaht_." He disagreed. "I know you."

Rory's mobile pinged, announcing a new message received. Both Timelords seemed too preoccupied with staring each other down to notice. River cleared her throat.

"Sweetie?" She prompted. After that didn't work, she reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the mobile. She checked the screen, then held the phone out to him. "It's from Canton."

The Doctor finally dragged his attention away from his curmudgeonly counterpart to check the message. He smiled and tucked it back into his pocket.

"Thank you, River." His gaze flickered over Koschei before he plastered a grin on his face. "Alright, off we go!"

* * *

Amy woke up strapped to a black glass and metal frame with more of those strange, inhuman figures standing around her. She blinked rapidly. Her eyes stung like never before, and her vision was distorted and oddly pink. The room around her was dark and she could see well enough to know that most of the creatures were preoccupied with manning the large, circular console that took up the center of the room.

"What did you do to me?!" Amy demanded, pulling at the straps for want of something else to do. One of the creatures strolled over to face her.

"You were a problem. Now you will not be." It told her cagily.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Amy queried, finally giving up on tugging at her bindings. The creature just regarded her silently. "Fine, whatever. Just so you know, you really should let me go." She informed it.

"I do not think so." The creature disagreed.

"You have no idea what you've got coming." Amy announced in a warning tone. "You made a big mistake messing with us."

"No one is coming."

"You're wrong."

"You have been here for many days." The creature said tauntingly. Amy frowned. _~Have I been out that long?~_

"Bullshit." She replied. She doubted that the others would leave her in captivity for that length of time. The creature let out an amused-sounding growl.

"I am not. You do not remember, but you have been here for many days." It insisted. Amy's heart sank. It didn't seem like it was lying. _~What's taking them so long?~_

"The Doctor _will_ come for me. He always does." She affirmed. "…even when he's late." She added a bit more quietly.

"Perhaps." The creature said, sounding unconcerned. "You will sleep now."

"No, thanks." Amy returned, preferring to remain alert. The creature raised an elongated hand to her face.

"Sleep."

"No. Get away from me!"

"_Sleep_." The creature insisted. She could feel that strange tugging again, at the back of her mind. She couldn't remember when she'd felt it before. _~Is this how they do it?~_ She studied the creature's face. It looked expectant. _~Yep. It's willing me to sleep. Okay, maybe it's best to humor it for now.~_

Amy blinked her eyes closed and relaxed her muscles, continuing to resist the influence even as she feigned unconsciousness. They wouldn't be watching a sleeping captive. This could work in her favor.

* * *

"Where are we going?" River inquired, clinging to the TARDS' console for dear life as the Doctor propelled them through the vortex.

"Following the signal back to Amy. Shouldn't take long—Ah, here we are." The Doctor noted as they landed. "Just a moment." He tossed Koschei Rory's cell phone (right over Rory's head). "Call Canton. Let him know we're going to need him standing by for the signal." He ordered and darted down the stairs and out of sight.

"What signal?" Koschei asked. The Doctor didn't seem to hear him. "Never mind, then." Koschei commented with an eye-roll and called the Doctor's mobile to relay the message.

The Doctor darted back up the stairs a few minutes later, carrying a little portable TV set.

"Did you tell him?"  
Koschei glanced over at him and nodded, continuing his conversation with Canton.

"I don't have any on me at present. …I know that I told you I'd pay you back, but it's only _one _packet of fa—That's not the point. Look, we'll settle it later. Just _stand by_." Koschei said and hung up before Canton could respond. "We're ready to go? Good." Koschei said ignoring the way the others were looking at him.

"Yes… Let's…" The Doctor replied, hesitating for only a second before he turned and bolted out of the TARDIS. The others followed after him.

* * *

Amy smiled as she heard the familiar sounds of the TARDIS materializing inside the chamber. She didn't open her eyes, however, until she heard his voice.

"Hello, Silence!" The Doctor called enthusiastically, Then paused to look around the room with an intrigued expression. "Ooh, think I've been here before. The place was in ruins, abandoned. I always wondered how it happened. Guess we're about to find out." He exchanged a look with Koschei, who graced him with a faint smile at that. He did always like it when Theta got wrathful. "River, Rory, Koschei stay on guard. Remember to keep one Silent in eyeshot at all times. Oh sorry, I'm getting a bit excited but have you seen what's on the telly? No? Let's have a look." The Doctor continued all in the same breath, moving around the console to face the lead Silence. "Oh, hello, Amy! You alright? Want to watch some television?" He turned away before she could answer to set the TV on the console and tune it. The Silence hissed and a few of them moved forward menacingly.

"Oh, I wouldn't." Koschei warned, smiling at them in a frighteningly predatory manner. Rory rushed over to help Amy.

"What's he got?" She whispered not taking her eyes off the Doctor, as River calmly charged her gun, daring the Silence to make a move.

"No idea, but I imagine it's pretty good." Rory answered quietly.

"You should know. I strongly dislike violence myself." The Doctor warned conversationally. "However, my friends here have no qualms about killing you all. They're both quite good at it. I know you're team players and everything, but you know what they say about the Stilkean…" He let that hang in the air for a moment, watching the Silence eye Koschei warily. "I can see that you do, and I expect River could easily take out the first three of you."

"Oh, I'd say seven." River corrected with a cocky smirk.

"Seven, really?"

"If I left you seven." Koschei replied tonelessly.

"Umm… excuse me! This isn't actually a competition!" Amy snapped. "Shouldn't some of the focus be on _my_ well being?"

"Yes, you're right. Sorry." The Doctor apologized, then clapped his hands together, strolling around the console. "Now, as I was saying. My friends here could easily kill the lot of you. That doesn't really matter though, because all I want is to accept your complete surrender, and then I'll let you go on your way in peace. You've been interfering in human history for millennia, yes. People have suffered, and died. But what good is it to have two hearts if you can't be a little forgiving?" The Doctor said, stepping forward to look straight into the lead Silence's eyes. Koschei laughed. "Yep, you're right. That's utter nonsense. I'm not letting you off that easily. So, first! What about that little girl? What's she for?"

The Silence hissed. The television behind the Doctor let out a beep and they could hear the chatter from the astronaut's comms.

"Guys, sorry, but you're way out of time." The Doctor said and turned back to the screen. Koschei was smiling broadly now. He was pretty sure he could see where this was going.

"Now, a little piece of history. Two billion humans all over the Earth are going to be watching this man take his first step on the surface of their moon, and humans don't stop there, either. They'll reach out to spread across this entire galaxy –countless generations are going to look back at this and they will never forget it- and aren't you proud 'cause you helped." The Doctor explained. Koschei was already puling Rory's mobile out of his pocket as he spoke. The Doctor winked at him and tossed a device across to him.

"They will forget this bit, though." The Doctor remarked, snapping the Silence's attention away from the screen to his grim face.

"Canton. Do it." Koschei instructed simply into the altered phone.

"Yes, Sir." Canton replied and pressed the Doctor's mobile to the device he'd been given the day before.

"One small step for man, One giant leap—" Armstrong's famous line was cut off in mid utterance by an uploaded recording of the injured Silence at Area 51.

"You should kill us all on sight!" It hissed before the moon's surface returned to the screen to continue the remembered imagery.

"You've just ordered your own death." The Doctor concluded, turning to face the Silence once again. "And two million people all over the earth just heard it. They'll be rising up against you now for generations to come, kicking you off their world and they won't even know they're doing it."

The Silence hissed. River and Koschei exchanged a look noticing the charge beginning to build around a few of them.

"Doctor?" River prompted.

"Yep, I see it. Time to run!" The Doctor agreed, hastily moving back towards his TARDIS.

"You just had to stay and explain how great you were!" Koschei bitched moving forward and slicing two Silence's throats open with a knife in one graceful, inhumanly fast motion.

"How long have you had that?!" The Doctor exclaimed disapprovingly, wincing in distaste as Koschei killed a few more.

"Not now, Theta." Koschei dismissed, glaring at River for shooting down one of his targets. "Any time now Rory!"

"It's stuck!" Rory shouted back. Koschei growled and killed one of the Silence with dubious reason. It hadn't even registered his presence beside it yet.

"Then break it, Tin Man!"

Rory paused for a second looking sheepish and after a few tries, he ripped the straps apart in his hands and led Amy into the TARDIS.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so... There you go folks! This episode's almost finished. There might be a slight lag before the next update, but I'll do my best to post ASAP. Thank you all for reading this. Special thanks to princesspevensie and Amphithere-Gray for reviewing. I love to hear from you guys, so please review!

**Translations:**

**Bvaht:** Nonsense; a misrepresentation of facts or an untrue utterance said in jest(think bullshit); a small chameleonic mammal native to Gallifrey (now extinct).

**Stilkean:** - An elite class of Gallifreyan soldier, born of a noble bloodline, which specialized in covert operations and/or espionage. All Stilkeans were incomparably capable assassins.


	5. Taking Off

**Chapter Five:** **Taking Off**

"You saved me!" Amy said adoringly, and pulled her husband into a passionate kiss. Koschei rolled his eyes as he strolled past them to join the Doctor at the controls.

"Knife, please." The Doctor prompted without looking up at him.

"Don't tempt me." Koschei returned, causing River to smile faintly in amusement.

"_Jyon Kaithe_…" The Doctor said more quietly. His tone sounded rather gentle. Koschei suddenly looked uncomfortable.

"Fine, Theta. If you insist." He replied, feigning indifference. River, who was still shamelessly eavesdropping, raised an eyebrow at his odd behavior. Koschei averted his gaze.

"Hit the blue button next." He added as he relinquished his weapon and pushed past the Doctor to join River on the stairs.

"Blue button…" The Doctor mumbled distractedly. Amy walked over, grabbed his hand and used it to press the stabilizer- button on his left. "Oi!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Why am I surrounded by all of these backseat drivers?!"

Amy smiled at him. Rory shrugged in a vaguely apologetic way.

"Sorry." Amy replied. "You said 'blue button'."

The Doctor harrumphed and flipped a lever that Koschei knew without a doubt to be utterly useless. Meeting Koschei's eye as the Doctor passed, Rory reached up and casually flipped the switch back to its former position.

"How are you feeling?" The Doctor asked Amy as they landed.

"Fine, mostly." Amy answered, fiddling with the edge of her sleeve. "My vision was all sort of ripple-y for a while after I first woke up, but now it's just a bit pink…" She trailed off when the Doctor's head snapped up to regard her. "Is that bad?"

"Not necessarily." He said, scanning her with his sonic, then just her head. He grabbed her head and looked closely at her eyes.

"Umm… Doctor?" Rory asked, uncertainly.

"Hmm…" The Doctor hummed thoughtfully, either ignoring him or just not registering his disapproval. It wasn't clear.

* * *

"Really, Koschei. Why can't you just trust me on this?" River questioned.

"We both know the answer to that already." Koschei said, moving out of the doorway to his room to sit in the big, green velvet comfy-chair on the other side of his four-poster bed.

"I can't tell you." River tried again. "You don't want to know anyway."

"Clearly, I do." Koschei snapped, looking irked.

"It's none of your concern."

"Come on, River! This is me you're talking to! I can tell when you're lying!"

"Then you'll see that I'm telling the truth when I say that I'm doing this to _protect_ you!" River nearly shouted, before slumping and sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I'm sorry, Koschei, but you really don't want to know what I've seen. Be glad that you don't."

Koschei stared at her for a long, drawn-out moment.

"You know who I am, don't you." River concluded more quietly.

"I have some idea, yes." Koschei confirmed. River sighed, looking somber but also a little relieved.

"How long have you known?"

Koschei smiled wryly as he admitted. "You probably don't want to know."

* * *

"They've tampered with your memory centers." The Doctor explained. Amy's frown deepened.

"Don't they always do that?"

"Not surgically, no." The Doctor elaborated. "But why would they do that? Why would they go in and surgically sabotage your memory?" He continued, getting angry all over again.

"Doctor, we've just beaten them. Koschei and River even killed quite a few of them in the process." Amy reminded the others, resting a hand on the Doctor's shoulder.

"I know I shouldn't feel pleased about that, but I kind of am." The Doctor admitted. "You must've seen something you weren't meant to, something they thought was important enough to warrant the effort of capturing you to erase."

"That isn't making me feel any better." Amy informed him.

"Sorry. I will help you get it back. I promise." The Doctor assured her as someone knocked on the outer door. Amy swallowed and nodded, and the Doctor gave Amy's shoulders a little squeeze before going to answer it. She tried to put on a brave face for the others as Koschei and River returned to the control room. Koschei looked from Rory, who was currently rubbing circles into her back to Amy's expression of false calm, narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Oh, Canton! Wonderful! Come on in!" They heard the Doctor call happily from below.

"So did it work?" Canton asked as he entered.

"Of course." Koschei replied, finally pulling his gaze from Amy's face.

"You're sure?"

"Yes." Koschei and the Doctor both answered together, then exchanged an awkward glance, before the Doctor continued.

"They shouldn't be bothering you any longer."

"Great. You still owe me a pack of cigarettes." Canton informed Koschei, secretly enjoying watching the alien squirm.

"Koschei?" Amy asked. River sighed long-sufferingly and reached into her pocket.

"I assume that you needed it for something terribly important." She said drily as she handed Canton the money.

"For the sake of the timeline." Koschei agreed. River considered that assertion then seemed simply to accept it.

"A pack of cigarettes saved the timeline?" Canton echoed more skeptically.

"Oh yes." Koschei assured him with a nod.

"I'd say 'preserved' is more accurate." The Doctor corrected.

"But I don't…" Rory thought aloud. Then his face lit with realization. "Oh! Right! In Emlin—Right!"

"It's good isn't it?" Koschei replied, sounding pleased.

"Wow. That _is_ amazing. In all that time since then, you still couldn't scrape together a single dollar to pay him back with." Rory remarked. Koschei's expression darkened a bit. Amy giggled.

"I don't carry currency. It's always changing anyway. Useless!" Koschei defended, straightening his already pristine turtleneck. Amy wondered how he'd managed to take down all those Silence without getting a single drop of blood on himself. _~It's like he has some kind of OCD superpower.~_

"Okay… Doctor, the President wishes to see you before your departure." Canton informed the Timelord.

"Of course." The Doctor replied flipping a few switches on the console. Koschei quickly fled up the stairs. Amy and Rory exchanged curious glances when they noticed the guilty look River got as soon as he left. Rory hesitated for a moment but then followed after him.

* * *

"So it's all over then. There's no further threat to the planet?" Nixon queried, shaking the Doctor's hand.

"Oh no, I wouldn't say that. I mean: yeah, the Silence have been dealt with, but it's a big universe out there, with plenty of other threats and plenty of other spooky, nasty things right here… as well as out there in space, and quite a few species that might decide they want to do you in someday." The Doctor rambled obliviously. Canton shot him a look, shaking his head almost unnoticeably. "But, no. That's fine. Just go ahead and tell yourself that, if it helps you sleep at night." The Doctor backpedaled. Nixon's face fell. "I'll be around, looking out for you. So I wouldn't worry. We're very good at what we do, if I do say so myself."

Nixon stared at him for a few seconds as his brain caught up with the Doctor's meaning. The Doctor let go of his hand and began to leave.

"I see… Um, Doctor?" The President called. The Doctor stopped and turned back to him.

"Yes?"

"Agent Delaware here tells me that you and your colleagues are from the future."

"That's correct."

"So tell me, Doctor. In the future… Will I be remembered?" Nixon asked. The Doctor smiled broadly at him.

"Oh, Dicky, Tricky Dicky! They are _never_ going to forget you." He assured the other man with an amused glint in his eye. The Doctor turned back toward the TARDIS but then stopped to add one more thing over his shoulder.

"It was nice meeting you both. You know, Canton here is one hell of an Agent."

"Thank you, Sir." Canton responded respectfully. The Doctor winked at him.

"Stop it." He returned, kindly. "It seems a bit silly to sack him just 'cause he wants to get married, don't you think?"

"Absolutely. Have a safe journey Doctor." Nixon called after him. The Doctor did a little mock salute in reply as he disappeared into the TARDIS.

"Say hello to Frost for me." Called River cheekily, as she pulled the door shut behind him.

"What?" Nixon questioned, but there was no further reply. Canton smiled ever so slightly in amusement, but it was well hidden by the time the President turned back to him.

"So…" Nixon began as they watched the TARDIS dematerialize before them.

"Sir?" Canton acknowledged stoically.

"This person that you want to marry… She's black?" Nixon inquired awkwardly.

"Yes, Sir." Canton confirmed.

"Perhaps I'm not quite as conservative as—"

"_He_ is." Canton clarified before the older man could go on any further. There was an uncomfortable silence. Canton skillfully ignored the odd look the President was now giving him.

"I see…" Nixon said, at a loss. Canton couldn't wait for the Doctor's future.

* * *

Rory found Koschei curled up on the couch in the TARDIS' library. He was reading Kafka this time.

"What is it now?" Koschei inquired tonelessly without looking up.

"I don't know. You tell me." Rory replied, taking a seat in the nearby armchair.

"You'd make a horrible psychiatrist." Koschei observed, still pretending to read.

"Something's been bothering you. You've been acting… different."

"You're not that familiar with this regeneration. Hardly the person to ask."

"Did you talk to River about it?" Rory asked, undeterred. Koschei snapped his book shut with a loud clap and turned his intense stare on Rory.

"She admits that you're all hiding something from me, but she swears that it's really all for my own good. Personally, I don't enjoy being deceived by my self-proclaimed family and friends. Thoughts?"

Rory looked at him uncertainly, opening his mouth to speak, but then shut it after reconsidering.

"I thought so." Koschei said, tossing his book to Rory as he got up and stormed gracefully out of the room. Rory caught it, opening it to see which story he'd marked and raising an eyebrow.

"Huh, _Metamorphosis_. Fitting."

* * *

Koschei wandered down the halls, headed in the general direction of Amy and Rory's room, without an actual destination in mind. He startled at an unexpected sound from the right. He looked over to see an unfamiliar, human woman with an eye patch, looking at him from a slot in the door.

"No… I don't think so. Heighten the serum dosage. We must be certain it continues working." She said to someone out of his line of sight.

"What? Who are you?" Koschei muttered stepping towards her. She didn't seem to hear him just slid the slat shut. Koschei blinked, feeling even more disturbed and disoriented. The opening in the door had just disappeared, as though it had never existed. He felt the TARDIS' concern for him pooling in the back of his mind. Apparently, as far as she knew, he'd just been talking to thin air. He shook his head and rested a hand against the wall.

"No… I'm fine." He assured her. "I'm seeing things…" He observed more quietly. "Interesting."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this is _so_ short. I'll try to update soon. Thanks for reading. Special thanks to Amphithere-Gray, GuesssWho, princesspevensie, and Mistydrop for their lovely reviews. Please, do let me know what ya'll think.


	6. Effect and Cause

**Episode 2: Home**

"_All you really need to know is that the universe is a lot more complicated than you think, even if you start from a position of thinking it's pretty damn complicated in the first place." –Douglas Adams_

**Chapter 1: Effect and Cause**

**CHRISTMAS, 2009**

The Doctor lay on his chest on the glass-scattered, marble floor of Naismith Mansion staring back at the spot where Rassilon and the Master… no his oldest friend, had vanished just seconds ago. He could feel the cries of their people fading away in his mind as Gallifrey fell back into the timelock, to burn out of existence. The last remaining Gallifreyan swallowed down the bile rising in his throat and finally began to push himself up off the floor.

That was when he caught sight of it. The white-point star. He was immediately transfixed by the last remaining fragment of his home-world, reaching out to grasp it. The tips of his fingers touched the perfect diamond just as Gallifrey vanished completely from his consciousness.

_Tap-tap-tap- tap._ The Doctor blinked. The Master was gone. So what was?

_Tap-tap-tap-tap._ 'Four knocks bring the end…' He pulled his hand away, leaving the white-point star where it sat innocently on the cluttered floor and turned to see Wilf trapped inside one of the radiation booths. _~Of course. __**Naturally**__. Well, now I'm starting to sound like- ~ _It hurt too much to think about right now. So instead the Doctor indulged himself in a brief breakdown. He felt it was justified. After all, he had just witnessed the death of his world, again, and now he was going to die… again.

The white-point star lay forgotten and unnoticed. Not even the Doctor had realized its true importance, too caught up in the flow of events…

* * *

**PRESENT DAY**

Claudia Donovan jerked awake with a start from where she'd fallen asleep at the dining-room table, uncertain of what exactly had woken her. She'd fallen asleep updating some of the Warehouse's inventory for Artie, which she had sort of lied about saying she would be done only an hour after they'd finished cataloguing the two new artifacts, but in her defense, Artie's system was prehistoric. The young techie paused to glare accusingly at her laptop as if it was the computer's fault, before closing it and preparing to head up to her room. She jumped again when she heard someone bolting down the stairs and stood to follow them out.

H.G. had run outside to investigate… ~_The crash! We heard a crash_!~ Claudia realized, now fully awake.

"Can you see what happened?" Claudia asked, walking over to her. The older woman didn't seem to hear her. Claudia looked her over, raising an eyebrow. "Wow. Someone got dressed fast." She remarked, then sobered, noticing the panicked look on the older woman's face.

"Are you certain?" H.G. demanded into the Farnsworth that she was holding. She still hadn't spared Claudia even the briefest glance.

"Hey, what's going on?" Claudia inquired, becoming extremely unsettled for her own reasons.

"Claudia…" H.G. muttered sadly.

"Yes! That's me! What is it?" Claudia snapped. H.G. tucked her Farnsworth away and turned back to the bed and breakfast. "Hey! Talk to me. I'm right—" Claudia stilled as H.G. proceeded to walk straight through her on her way back inside. "…here." Claudia finished, nonplussed. She looked down at herself, touching her chest to be certain that she was as solid as she remembered. When she looked up, she was standing in the middle of an empty and unfamiliar road. It was daytime and it was both sunny and frosty out. She couldn't feel the cold, but she could see her breath quite clearly.

"She raises her eyebrow at this..." Claudia remarked to herself, looking around, then spun on the spot, alarmed. "Oh! Crap!" She exclaimed, rushing over to the smoking wreckage at the edge of the road. A black SUV had been T-boned at top speed, flipping it over.

She jogged around to the driver's side, dropping to her knees beside the shattered window.

"Hey! Can you hear me? Are you—" She broke off in mid sentence, staring openmouthed at the driver's body hanging upside-down from the driver's seat. "No freaking way." It was her. She was dead. She jumped as her passenger dropped down out of his seat with a muffled grunt. The man had a shock of fiery, red ringlets and he was wearing a white leather jacket. That was probably why she noticed the wound in his shoulder so quickly.

"Who are you?" Claudia asked him as he coughed and shuffled around so that he could check her pulse. He sighed in resignation and closed her corpse's eyes. He didn't seem too upset about it, but he had kind of an inscrutable air to him anyway, so it was difficult to tell.

"You can't hear me." Claudia determined from his lack of reaction. He looked right through her to check the street sign behind her. "Yep, I'm an invisible ghost. That's just awesome. Now, the question is—" Claudia and the mystery man in the SUV both jumped at the sounds of car doors slamming close by and running booted feet.

There were three men in black combat gear rushing towards the SUV. They were all armed. None of them looked even remotely friendly. One started coming around her side of the car, gun pointed and ready to shoot her, while his buddy took the passenger's side.

"Oh, okay, shit! What the hell were we dealing with?" Claudia demanded, grabbing her head and trying to force her mind to cooperate and remember what the hell was going on. She simultaneously shuffled back and away from the mean guy with a gun. Even as an apparently dead person, she still found him terrifying.

"This one's already terminated." He observed coldly.

"Hey!" Claudia objected.

A bolt of electricity shot out of the SUV's window, knocking him out. The thug on the passenger's side moved to shoot into the SUV but the passenger tackled him in a roll and then leapt to his feet, making a run for it. Claudia screamed out a pointless warning upon seeing another thug take aim to shoot him in the back. At the sound of the gunshot, she jolted awake.

"What the fuck!?" Claudia demanded of her laptop. That had to have been the most realistic nightmare she had ever experienced. _~It __**was**__ a nightmare. Wasn't it?~_ She hesitated for less than a second before jumping up out of her seat and running for the stairs. "Guys?! Guys, wake up!"

* * *

"My point is, if they think that the cells on their ship can't hold us, why would they think a little rope might help?" Amy insisted, setting her mug down a bit loudly to punctuate her point.

"It did slow us down." Doctor noted reasonably. "Besides I don't believe that Lessli was a very rational person."

"The Collectors aren't the only ones that did it. What about the Silence?" Amy reminded him. "It's a trend, a really weird trend."

"And the Function too." Koschei supplied disinterestedly, taking a bite of his chocolate before adding. "Perhaps you're just a lot of fun to strap down."

It was at that moment that Rory returned from the kitchen with the sandwiches.

"Wait, what?" He asked uncomfortably.

"You timed that, didn't you." Amy accused Koschei. He didn't answer, but he did look rather pleased with himself. "Very mature." She told him sarcastically. He put on an innocent expression and sipped at his tea instead of replying.

"Okay. Never mind then." Rory said, taking a seat beside his wife and giving her a sandwich. "Finally, we get a calm morning. It's nice to have an uneventful rest, isn't it?"

Right after Rory said this, there was a strange, metallic groan that reverberated throughout the TARDIS. Everyone stilled, looking for any clue as to its source. Then it was silent again. Amy let out the breath she'd been holding. The Doctor set down his cup.

Then they were all thrown to the side, toppling out of their seats as the TARDIS veered dramatically. A klaxon blared and the lighting around them took on a noticeably pinker color.

"Oh, that's not good." The Doctor observed tensely from where he lay on his back on the floor.

"What is it?" Amy inquired, sitting up and watching him as he rushed past her out of the room. Koschei rose from where he'd braced himself against the counter near her feet. _~He is __**really**__ hard to knock over.~_ Amy couldn't help but notice. The older Timelord turned to stare accusingly at Rory.

"What?" Rory asked, wringing the tea out of his shirt.

"You just _had_ to say it didn't you." Koschei said flatly, straightening his white-satin, button-down shirt and strolling purposefully towards the door. Amy stood and chased after him.

"What's happening?" She inquired as she caught up.

"Temporal disturbance. We won't know more until we check the readout."

"So that's weird? I mean it could be some other time travelers or something."

"Not that kind of disturbance."

"Oh… The bad kind?'

"Probably." Koschei confirmed, calling to the Doctor as they came down the stairs to join him at the controls. "What have we got?"

"Class 12 disturbance. There was a spike on the sensors but it's gone now." The Doctor explained, still working feverishly at the controls. "The dial, please."

Koschei turned it to the correct setting without a word.

"Thank you. Red button, Amy."

"Which one?"

"Your left." Koschei supplied instantly, turning back to the Doctor. "You've got a location. "Earth, Western United States."

"Well that narrows it down." Koschei observed drily.

"She's working on it." The Doctor replied. "Soon as she's ready we'll go investigate."

"I assumed so." Koschei replied, then grabbed the edge of the console when the TARDIS began to shake. "Amy, the stabilizers!"

"Got it!" Amy shouted diving forward to slap the -now glowing- blue button. The shaking died down enough for them to stand unaided once again. Finally the it stopped entirely and there was a little ding from the console. The Doctor tilted the screen between himself and Kochei towards himself to read it. Koschei came to look over his shoulder.

"Oh, well at least that narrows it down, I suppose." Koschei admitted diplomatically.

"What? What's the problem?" Amy inquired coming around the pillar to join them.

"We've got two locations for the source: Seattle, Washington and Minton, South Dakota." The Doctor explained.

* * *

**A/N:** It's short but hopefully still enjoyable. I'll update again as soon as I can. Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Special thanks to EluraSeregin, Amphithere-Gray, princess pevensie, and Mistydrop for their reviews. As allways, please review. If you have any questions or comments you'd like to ask me that's cool to.


	7. Time and Space

**Chapter 2: Time and Space**

"Where to first, then?" Amy inquired, leaning lazily against the console.

"Seattle." Koschei replied, cutting off the Doctor before he could answer. Amy raised her eyebrows at him while the Doctor regarded him with an intrigued expression. Koschei looked quickly between the two, completely failing to appear innocent. "What?"

"Why not South Dakota?" Rory prompted patiently. Out of the three of them, he looked least interested in Koschei's aversion. The Master had conquered the planet after all. Twice. Rory doubted that this would be nearly so dramatic.

"Personal reasons." Koschei responded primly. "In fact, why not just split up-?"

"No." The Doctor interjected.

"…Rory and I can take Seattle-" Koschei continued unfazed.

"I don't think so."

"…And you and Amy can check out South Dakota while we're at it. Yes, let's do that."

"No." The Doctor insisted, sounding a tad annoyed. "Really Kos, are you even listening to me?"

Amy held her hands out toward Koschei as if presenting him as he answered:

"No."

"What did you do to South Dakota?" Rory asked conversationally. Koschei flashed him a harassed expression.

"Nothing of interest." He replied impatiently. "Can we please get to the point?"

"We'll start with South Dakota, unless you feel like sharing." The Doctor decided, flipping a switch. Koschei narrowed his eyes at the other Timelord.

"I don't."

"Right then. Minton, here we come!"

* * *

"It was probably just a nightmare. You've been through quite a lot recently. Perhaps you just—" H.G. began.

"I am not over reacting! I saw it happen! It was too real!" Claudia insisted loudly, throwing her arms up in frustration as she paced the cluttered office in the Warehouse. She spun on her heel and looked first to Myka then to Artie for support, but found no help there.

"Come on, Claude. I know it was unusual but that doesn't mean that some artifact made you go all prophet on us." Pete tried. "H.G.'s right, you're under a lot of stress right now and it's possible that you could have gotten a little worked up about it."

"Guys, I know how this sounds, but it wasn't a dream. I'm positive. It had to be an artifact! We need to find this guy… or not, since he was with me when they got him, but that's beside the point!" Claudia shook her head to expel the thought, getting back on track. "We should at least, identify him because I _know_ that someone'sgoing to kill him and we can stop it."

Artie watched her. He was looking maybe a tad less contrary now, but it was Artie so it was difficult to be sure. Claudia hurried over to stand in front of his desk chair and give him a puppy-dog look, holding her clasped hands up beneath her chin for added effect.

"Come on, Artie! Pleeaase? There's got to be an artifact that can do that. Just an itty-bitty look?" She begged, her voice going high pitched at the end. Artie studied her face for a moment before he folded.

"Fine! You can run a search in the archives."

"Yes!" Claudia hissed victoriously, doing a fist pump.

"BUT!" Artie snapped, holding up a finger. Claudia straightened her posture, jumping slightly. "You will follow my instructions to the letter, and you will be accompanied at all times. Under no circumstances are you to deviate in the_ slightest_. Understood?" Claudia nodded quickly but he just continued anyway. He was on a grumpy roll. "The Warehouse is very temperamental and the artifacts are _not_ toys."

"Understood completely. Loud and clear, Captain Curmudgeon, Sir!" Claudia said with a fake salute. He gave her a warning look. "Right! Okay, I'll be good."

"Alright. Go, go! Get searching." Artie replied, shooing her toward the computer as he got up and walked over to pull Pete and Myka aside. "I've got a possible artifact for you two to investigate, in Seattle…"

H.G. went to sit in the empty desk chair beside Claudia as they left.

"Listen, Claudia, I want you to know that I didn't mean to dismiss you earlier…"

"No big deal. I got a nightmare from an artifact we haven't yoinked yet. I know it's weird." Claudia assured her, not looking up from the computer screen. H.G. frowned for a second at the unfamiliar term before pressing onward.

"Yes... Well, I was just thinking that if you still want to find the man from your… From the crash, perhaps I might be able to assist you."

Claudia finally dragged her attention away from the computer screen to look at her.

"How well do you remember what he looked like? I might be able to draw him for you, if you could instruct me on his appearance."

Claudia slowly smiled, then nodded.

"Yeah, thanks. That would be great."

* * *

When they landed, the Doctor immediately dashed down to the lower level, saying he needed to 'fetch a thing'. They could now hear him searching rather ruthlessly for something, impatiently pushing certain things aside and at one point simply throwing an unwanted item over his shoulder with Koschei-like recklessness.

Amy and Rory leaned on the railing to stare down after him while Koschei crouched over the far side of the console subtly brooding. Both Ponds winced at the sound of some unseen glass things clinking together rather roughly, then Amy looked over her shoulder at Koschei. Even when he was moping his expression was nearly unreadable.

"I did mention that he'd been behaving oddly." Rory commented in a hushed voice without looking up. Amy regarded him thoughtfully as he continued. "I mentioned it to him, too."

"And what'd he say about it?"

"He said that I don't know him well enough to tell." The AI shrugged. "Maybe he's right."

"A year's enough time." Amy disagreed in a near whisper. "Besides, you're not the only one who thinks something's up. Not anymore anyway."

"I've been keeping watch on him since the diner and I honestly can't tell…" Rory admitted. "Don't get me wrong, something _is_ going on, but this version of him is just too hard to read. Not quite Jyun, not quite the Koschei I'm used to, either."

Koschei slumped back in his seat and put his legs up on the console and they both stilled for a moment, going silent until they heard him start to fiddle with Amy's abandoned Kindle.

"He always trusts you." Rory pointed out. "I'm not sure that's true for anyone else."

"He might know that you're watching him." Amy noted, turning around to lean back against the railing. The Doctor had long stopped shoving things around quite so loudly.

"He might." Rory replied. Koschei looked up from the gadget in his hands and his eyes locked with Amy's briefly before he returned his attention to the Kindle. Amy's brow furrowed ever so slightly. There was something in his eyes, something wasn't quite right, but she couldn't pinpoint what it was. That nagging doubt was back again, lingering at the edges of her mind, a horrible feeling of loss, but she still couldn't remember...

"Yeah, you're probably right. I'll do it." Amy decided, just as the Doctor came jogging up the stairs to rejoin them.

"Found it!" The Doctor declared, holding up what looked like a mad cross between a Walkie Talkie, an alarm clock and a chunk of copper-colored coral. The coral shimmered with an unearthly, golden light that made Amy suddenly very suspicious that the thing was actually alive.

"What did you name that one Doctor, the timey-wimey device?" Koschei inquired with the hint of a smile as he eyed the gadget.

"Nope. I already used that one—sort of. I haven't really gotten around to naming this one yet, to be honest." The Doctor admitted amiably. Koschei got up, pocketing Amy's Kindle (which was still a strange sight to see) and began to follow the others out of the TARDIS.

"That's still mine, you know." Amy reminded him gently as she fell into step with him.

"I'll keep that in mind. The downloaded _'Good Omens'_ is for me, though." Koschei informed her smoothly, grabbing his jacket from the coat rack before he slipped through the door. Amy rolled her eyes but didn't comment any further.

* * *

It was already one in the afternoon and Claudia and H.G. hadn't made any progress on their search. They'd scanned what Claudia was convinced was an incredibly accurate sketch of the passenger from her nightmare into the computer, but their facial recognition software hadn't found a single match. Their search for the artifact responsible for Claudia's symptoms was much the same. Apparently, there was an artifact that plagued its victims with graphic premonitions of their own demise, but that was Captain Jack Harkness' (yeah, they didn't know who that was either) binoculars. And they had been safely tucked away in the Warehouse since 1956. Claudia and H.G. had gone ahead and doused them with neutralizer just to be certain, but were convinced that particular artifact wasn't the culprit.

"Okay, great! So I am officially crazy now!" Claudia exclaimed, snapping her laptop shut with more force than was strictly necessary. H.G. opened her mouth to argue but Claudia shook her head at her, jumping up out of her chair to begin pacing the office. "This is ridiculous! We have been working nonstop all day! There should be something here, some kind of proof that something weird was going on last night! Even the Warehouse has trace evidence on the web that implies its existence! I found _that_ in less than half this amount of time!"

"Well, perhaps that is a problem we may ask you to remedy in the near future, Miss Donovan." A raspy male voice replied unexpectedly, causing Claudia to jump. She spun round to face the Regent, one hand pressed over her racing heart.

"Son of a— How the hell do you guys do that?!" Claudia demanded before regaining her cool. Mr. Valda just raised an eyebrow at her antics. "Sorry."

"What is it? Something important must have occurred to bring a Regent here." H.G. observed, rising from her seat.

"You'd think that…" Claudia remarked, remembering a few extraneous and arguably unwise visits they'd gotten recently. Valda ignored the insinuation.

"You've been running a search through the Warehouse archives." He explained, pulling a sheet of paper out of his pocket and unfolding it. "…Looking for this man. Why?"

The two women stared at the printout of H.G.'s sketch, momentarily at a loss for words.

"I assume you _did_ have a reason…" Mr. Valda prompted, looking from one to the other expectantly.

"I saw him in my dream!" Claudia blurted out, then winced and hastily corrected herself. "Well, it wasn't a dream, and I said it wasn't a dream, but Artie didn't believe me. I'm not sure he really does now, but it _was_ caused by an artifact- I'm sure it was! And then they shot him and I was dead, and so I have to stop it from happening if I can, but we can't find anything on him-"

"Claudia." H.G. cut in, resting a calming hand on the flustered girl's shoulder. Claudia paused a minute, adding at a lower volume.

"And we haven't found the artifact."

"Breathe, Dear." H.G. instructed, giving her shoulder a little squeeze. Claudia nodded and attempted to relax. Mr. Valda watched them silently until it was clear no one was going to have a panic attack, then spoke.

"You're certain that this is the man you saw in your premonition?" He asked seriously.

"You believe me?" Claudia responded, surprised.

"Yes. Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm positive. He was the passenger in my- my _premonition_." Claudia affirmed, obviously relieved that someone believed her. Valda nodded grimly and tucked the printout back into his jacket.

"You know who that man is, don't you?" H.G. observed. Valda walked past them to sit in Artie's desk chair without another word. "Well, who is he then?"

"We need to find him." Claudia insisted when he didn't reply. "Listen, there were some really scary guys after him in my vision, or premonition, or whatever. and I'm pretty sure he's in danger."

"I'm sure he is." Mr. Valda agreed reflectively. He reached out and pulled her chair out turning it to face him. "Perhaps you should take a seat, Miss Donovan. I'd like to hear what, exactly, it is that you saw."

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this took me so long to post. I've been busy, but I am still trying. Thanks for reading this. Special thanks to Mistydrop for reviewing. Please guys, do review.


	8. He's a Gremlin

**Chapter 3: He's a Gremlin**

The high-pitched, wheezing sounds of the TARDIS landing filled a sunlit, nearly empty alleyway in Minton, South Dakota. The lone homeless man sitting nearby beside the dumpster looked up at the TARDIS with mild curiosity, gave it a once over, then went back to his bottle of whiskey without sparing it another glance.

"Hmm. Maybe we should wait until he's gone." Rory suggested, eyeing the homeless man's image in the view-screen in front of him. The Doctor was looking at it too, with a thoughtful expression.

"Hmm." Koschei hummed, coming to look over the Doctor's shoulder. The Doctor wordlessly tilted it so that he could get a better view and then reached up to give the hand Koschei had rested on his shoulder a quick squeeze.

"Why? We don't usually wait." Amy pointed out, watching the two curiously. They were doing _that thing_ again, appearing to hold a secret conversation without a word, and barely a glance at each other.

"Just a feeling." Rory replied. He jumped up when he saw Koschei heading towards the doors. "Hey, wait up!"

"For what reason? I couldn't care less about your feelings." Koschei said disinterestedly and pushed through the doors, throwing them shut behind him. Rory easily caught them and followed him out.

"I'll stick with you then. That was your plan, wasn't it?" The others heard him say as the doors swung shut behind them. Amy blew out an aggravated breath and moved to follow, but the Doctor grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around.

"No, no. Wait. Let's see what happens first, shall we?" He said, shifting his gaze back to the monitor.

"What?"

"Shhh!" The Doctor shushed her, fiddling with the controls on the side of the screen.

"Did you bump your head when we crashed?"

"Yes—No! Maybe a little. It doesn't matter. Volume, volume… Ah! There you are. Now Amy, sh! Observe!" He instructed, waving toward the screen.

* * *

"Not interested, Eyeore." Koschei said flatly, stopping Rory's protests in mid-flow.

"Of course not. Why would anyone listen to me?" Rory muttered bitterly.

"Case in point." Koschei returned as he inspected some colorful graffiti on the wall across from the dumpster. Rory pouted at him.

"Found something?" He asked, walking over to join Koschei. The painting before them was a bit disconcerting. It was made up of conjoined swirls of neon color, mostly yellow and blue and orange. It had an abstract pattern to it that seemed oddly familiar.

"Not really. We're still a mile away from the point of origin." Koschei said, still leaning forward to inspect the painting closely.

"Okay… Then what are you doing?" Rory prompted. He was still running the pattern through his databanks for a match anyway. It looked too familiar.  
"Cold Charlie." Koschei stated casually.

"What?"

"This."

Rory frowned at his confusing friend, then looked up just in time to see the homeless man lunge at Koschei. His face stretched, his lime-green eyes turning to reptilian slits as his mouth opened too wide, revealing three rows of needle-like teeth. It was then that Rory realized what was so off about the stranger. His skin was too pale, morbidly pale, and the skin of his face was stretched over his features as if it didn't quite fit.

Koschei just let himself be tackled by the hissing alien, though he did grab its chin to stop it from biting his face off.

"Jesus Christ!" Rory cursed and darted forward to pull it off, but the creature swiped Koschei's hand aside and turned to spit steaming, purple venom into Rory's face.

"Now, now, that's not very polite, is it?" Koschei quipped, palming the stiletto he'd had hidden up his sleeve. The alien hissed menacingly and surged forward to rip his throat out. It stopped abruptly with its teeth just millimeters away from his flesh(and the tip of his blade pointing straight at its heart) to cringe at the sound of the Doctor's sonic coming from behind it.

"That's enough of that." The Doctor chastened. "You alright, Kos?"

"Not a scratch." Koschei confirmed breathlessly, vanishing the blade again before the Doctor could see it.

"Good. Rory, do get up. We don't have all day." The Doctor instructed. Rory stood up, wiping the venom off his face with his sleeve.

"A warning would have been nice." He grumbled in mild irritation. Amy just stared at him wide-eyed from the TARDIS' doorway. Rory's sleeve was disintegrating as it contacted the steaming venom, but his face remained completely unharmed.

"Noirene acid, it only works on carbon-based, organic compounds." The Doctor explained happily. "Lucky for us, our Rory here is pure silicon."

The alien attacker hissed louder and snapped at Koschei's face. Rory however, was faster and grabbed it by the back of its stained denim jacket yanking it off of him before it could do any damage.

"_Ciphorra_!" It cursed, spitting at his feet. Rory just pinned it against the wall, looking entirely unimpressed. The Doctor moved to stand beside him and Rory's eyes flashed.

"You think that's a good idea, Mate?" Rory said, slamming the alien back against the wall when it tried to force its way out of his grip. It was obviously disturbingly strong, as for a brief moment it was almost winning. The Doctor hung back at Rory's shoulder instead.

"What is it- he?" Amy asked, helping Koschei up off the ground.

"It." Rory corrected coolly.

"Temper." The Doctor admonished, though he looked a bit disgusted by the creatures' presence himself. "I know your peoples have a history, but there's no need to be nasty."

"Yet." Rory added quietly. The Doctor didn't correct him.

"He's a Gremlin." Koschei addressed Amy's earlier question.

"What, really?" Amy asked incredulously.

"No relation." Koschei clarified, eying the Doctor's screwdriver. He'd noticed that the tip was still lit.

"Who sent you?" The Doctor asked the Gremlin.

"Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Listen, I'm giving you a chance. Just tell me who hired you and you're free to go." The Doctor offered, surveying him with the same disgusted and oddly somber expression before adding: "We'll even overlook your past crimes, as long as you cooperate.

"I don't fear you, Timelord. My masters will end your reign." The Gremlin said. He dragged his eyes over Koschei's form with a nasty look in his eyes. "I can see why you like this one. I'd just love to have him as my meat-suit."

Rory slammed him back unnecessarily hard so that his head hit the wall and he hissed. The Doctor's eyes hardened.

"Careful." He prompted, not looking all that concerned for the captive's well-being. Rory stilled. "Who sent you after us?"

The Gremlin chuckled.

" 'Us'…" He echoed, overly amused. "You _really_ don't know what you're dealing with, Doctor."

Koschei narrowed his eyes at the Gremlin as it snapped its jaw tightly shut, still laughing as its eyes rolled back in its head.

"What is it—" Amy began to ask.

"Back in the TARDIS!" The Doctor ordered sharply, shooing Amy inside. Koschei hesitated so the Doctor grabbed him by the front of his jacket and forcibly shoved him into the TARDIS, slamming the doors shut as Koschei immediately darted back towards him.

"No! Theta!" Koschei protested, pounding on the doors as the Doctor locked him in. There were fluorescent veins fanning out over the Gremlin's face, glowing right through his stolen skin.

"Doctor?" Rory queried tensely.

"Yes, I know." The Doctor responded with surprising calm. He looked down at his sonic in a businesslike manner before nodding and pressing the tip to the side of the, now steaming, alien's neck. He then grabbed Rory's hand. "Ready now? Three, two…" On one they ran around to the other side of the dumpster. Rory pushed it away from the wall, snapping the chain in the process and they ducked behind it just in time to avoid the explosion. After the globs of acid and bits of singed flesh ceased to fall, Rory straightened up from where he'd been hunched over partially shielding the Doctor.

"Thanks for that." The Doctor told him, standing up and frowning at the constellation of holes that the raining venom had put in his sleeve.

"Just tell me that you got what you needed." Rory said, looking down at himself and resignedly letting the remainders of his destroyed jumper fall to the ground.

"Yep! Last six locations where he's run an uplink, straight out of his overloading data-chip." The Doctor reported, flipping his screwdriver victoriously. "Did seem sort of overkill though, didn't it?"

"It is you they're up against." Rory pointed out as they returned to the TARDIS. "They probably won't be pulling any punches… Whoever it is we're dealing with."

* * *

Artie and H.G. both looked up at Artie's monitor when the alarm dinged. Claudia perked up from her place on the couch beside Valda. She'd been showing him their minor internet leaks while they waited for the passenger from her dream to trip the notification system. She figured this mystery man had to be someone major if Valda was sticking around for this.

"We got a ping!" Artie announced needlessly. H.G. rolled her chair over to peek at the screen.

"It's our mystery man and… Oh dear, he does seem to be having a bit of trouble." She observed, watching the surveillance footage that had tripped the alarm.

"Where? What is it? Let me see!" Claudia demanded, hurrying over to look. Valda rose and followed at a much more dignified pace. The video showed the man from her dream step out of a police-box and lean over to look closely at some graffiti. He was apparently having a disagreement with another unidentified man that followed him out. Claudia jumped when a homeless guy lunged into the frame to tackle him, revealing a twisted, inhuman face for a fleeting second before spitting something nasty into his buddy's face.

"Wow that's a lot of teeth!" Claudia observed. Valda inclined his head slightly in agreement.

"You think that's bad…" H.G. commented, reaching out to fast-forward.

"Ah! Ah!" Artie objected, swatting her hand away so that he could do it instead. He sped through footage of two more strangers exiting the box,-

"It's like a clowncar." Claudia reflected.

-the buddy that'd been spat on yanking their attacker off of dream-dude and pinning said attacker to a wall, finally, Artie let the footage play. They were arguing, then the attacker started laughing like a cartoon villain. There was a tussle as the suited guy pushed the girl and dream-dude back into the box, then he and the other guy ran behind the dumpster, showcasing one guy's inhuman strength in the process. That's when the attacker exploded (causing Claudia to let out a totally dignified squeak) and the camera shorted out.

"You have a location?" Valda prompted into the perplexed silence.

"Yes, of course." H.G. confirmed after a second's hesitation. "Minton, South Dakota. It's—" Artie cut her off with a grumpy hand gesture.

"With all due respect, Sir, we're not going anywhere until you explain to me precisely what is going on here." He snapped.

"You know everything that you need to at the moment." Valda replied smoothly, not cowed in the slightest.

"Not good enough."

"I believe you may have forgotten your place, Agent Nielsen. As a Warehouse Agent you are expected to defer to the judgment of the Regents. If we say that you know enough, I assure you, you most certainly do."

"I also have a responsibility to oversee the safety of the Agents under my command!" Artie retorted angrily. "I spotted _at least _four possible artifacts in that footage, two of which have clear deadly potential. Now, I know that you know more about this man than you've deigned to tell us! I understand that secrecy is necessary in this line of work, but I cannot cooperate with this any further until I have at least some vague idea what we're dealing with!"

Claudia and H.G. exchanged tense glances while Valda studied Artie's face in silence.

"I understand." Valda finally said, coming to a decision. "I won't force you to take part in this." He turned away as Artie let out a breath, looking relieved. Valda turned to Claudia. "Miss Donovan, I suggest you run and gather the necessary items."

"What?" Artie exclaimed. Valda ignored him.

"I have a car on the way to collect us, and take us to Minton. You should be ready to go when it arrives."

"No! Not a chance!" Artie snapped.

"That isn't your decision." Valda dismissed, looking meaningfully at Claudia. She hesitated for only a second before grabbing her jacket.

"Sorry, Artie." She said uncomfortably and dashed away to collect her gear.

"She is a Junior Agent. She is not ready—"

"I'm aware of your concerns, Agent. I do not plan on sending her out into the field unaccompanied." Valda assured him. "I believe Agent's Bering and Lattimer are currently working another case?"

Artie nodded stiffly.

"I want you and Agent Wells to remain here as support. You said that you wouldn't be involved. So be it. But this investigation will go on without you."

As soon as Valda was gone, H.G. turned to Artie.

"So: learn everything you can about Valda's investigation, and don't let the Regents catch you?"

"Precisely." Artie agreed.

"I thought so. I'll contact you in a few hours." H.G. announced and slipped out of the room.

* * *

Koschei growled deeply as The Doctor stepped into the TARDIS. Rory actually stopped halfway up the stairs to turn back and look at them, before exchanging a look with Amy.

"I know that you're angry." The Doctor said walking up to face him. Koschei's expression was a clear indicator, for once, of the huge understatement. "But I needed more time. I'm touched by the concern though." ~_Or rather, the fact that he isn't hiding it this time.~_ The Doctor amended mentally.

"You will _never_ lock me in again." Koschei ground out angrily.

"I was protecting you."

Another, more pointed growl.

"Alright then."

Koschei nodded stiffly and stamped up the stairs to his bedroom. Amy and Rory watched him go, feeling an amazing amount of sympathy for the grumpy Timelord. Neither could imagine what he would do if the events they'd witnessed at Lake Silencio did come to pass. Rory was fairly certain his reaction might involve some sort of massacre. Amy was oddly thankful that he hadn't been present, although on the other hand, his absence could have signified something far worse.

"What are you two looking so glum for?" The Doctor asked innocently as he jogged up to the console. "Come on, we have a mystery to solve!"

"Right." Amy said forcing the worry to the back of her mind for the moment. Someone had set an assassin on them. That needed to be dealt with first.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay guys, sorry for the wait, and the briefness of the update. I am trying, just a tad overwhelmed at present. Thank you all for reading this. Special thanks go to Amphithere-Grey and Mistydrop for reviewing, especially Mistydrop, who has offered to possibly do some artwork for this series. Anyway, as usual i'd love to hear what you guys think of this so, feel free to review.


	9. Perception

**Chapter 4: Perception**

Claudia bent down at the mouth of the alley to inspect a puddle of steamy, purple goo. Mr. Valda ducked under the police tape behind her. Claudia didn't exactly know how the Regents had gotten control of this place, nor did she particularly feel like asking. It was convenient for their investigation and she would leave it at that. She poked a pencil into the now gelatinous substance and pulled it away, watching the viscous corrosive trail in a thick strand even as it burned away the pencil.

"Double yuck. What is this stuff?" Claudia commented, making a face and dropping the ruined pencil.

"I haven't seen it before." Mr. Valda admitted. Claudia looked up at him in surprise. He ignored it and walked over to the blue police box at the other end of the alley, carefully avoiding any caustic goo. Claudia shrugged and went back to her perusal of the scene, taking a tiny sample in a tempered glass jar and tucking it away in her bag. Valda tried the TARDIS door. It was locked. He paused for a second, then knocked experimentally. No answer.

"Hmmm. Feeling a bit contrary today, are we?" He remarked quietly. "Your passengers have headed out again, I suppose."

"What?" Claudia called, looking over her shoulder at him from where she'd been inspecting the dumpster.

"Nothing. I wasn't talking to you." Valda clarified taping a piece of folded paper to the door before making his way towards her.

"Oh… Okay. Well, whoever these people are, I think we can be pretty sure they're using an artifact." Claudia announced. Valda eyed her with mild interest.

"Look what their buddy did to this mega-heavy, sturdy, iron chain." She said, holding up one half of the chain Rory had ripped apart in order to shield himself and the Doctor earlier. Valda didn't look at all surprised. "Hold up. Why do you look like you don't think this is weird?" Claudia queried, narrowing her eyes at him.

"It's not so strange for Rory." Valda replied.

"Rory." Claudia echoed. "You know him!"

"Yes." Valda confirmed. "I know all of them… Well…" He looked back at the remains of the amphibious alien behind him. "I didn't know him."

"Wh—I—You weren't going to tell me anything?!"

"I just did."

"Oh, yeah. Awesome!" Claudia remarked sarcastically. "Okay, so you know them, and you think it's totally normal for one of them to have super strength."

"For Rory to, yes." Valda agreed calmly. Claudia looked like she wanted to yell but then deflated, leaning against the dumpster.

"I don't know anything, do I?" She asked sounding defeated. "All I know is that I am going to die, and I don't even know why."

"You aren't necessarily going to die, Miss Donovan."

"I saw it: a premonition of my seemingly _pointless_ death in the near future."

"The future can be changed." Valda told her then smiled at the memory the words brought back. His expression changed to a frown as his gaze returned to the broken chain. "It seems strange, though." He observed. "Why go to such trouble to anchor a dumpster?"

* * *

Koschei knelt down at the side of the road and pulled out his laser-screwdriver. They were in a mostly disused industrial district. The street sign behind Koschei was on a permanent lean and the grass and shrubs attempting to grow on this side of the street were in various states of failure. Amy wandered over to join Koschei from the side of the old pickup truck, where the Doctor was chatting happily with a local couple that had given them a lift. She plopped down next to him on the curb, watching the familiar sheet of red light sweep over the area in front of him, making the grass glow an other-worldly orange as he scanned it.

"What'd you find?"

Koschei eyed his screwdriver.

"This is it." Koschei announced, standing and taking a few steps forward before spinning dramatically to face her. "This is the exact spot where the temporal distortion originated." He held out his laser-screwdriver briefly as though she'd be able to see the readout. "The chronon radiation peaks right where I'm standing."

"Also… What's this?" The Doctor added as he and Rory joined them. He came over to look at something shiny and dark in the middle of the road to Koschei's left. Koschei picked up a twig out of the grass beneath the street sign, spinning it in one hand as he flitted over to see what the Doctor had found.

"It looks like you're right. This is the point of origin." The Doctor concluded.

"But what about Seattle?" Rory pointed out.

"One half-point of origin? A point of origin? Don't know yet, but I'll figure it out." The Doctor said easily, poking at the hardened venom with the toe of his shoe. Koschei looked at him pointedly and used his stick to push the younger alien's foot away from his toxic discovery. "You're getting bossy." The Doctor noted. Koschei continued to stare at him, tossing his stick aside without looking. It flew through the window of the old, abandoned building on the other side of the street with the sound of breaking glass. The Doctor followed the movement then looked back at an unapologetic Koschei. The Doctor sighed and squatted down to get a closer look at the venom.

"Hmm. Days old, completely solidified…" He scanned it with his sonic. "Yep, two days ago." He pulled a hunter's orange, plaid handkerchief out of his pocket and used it to pick up the hardened venom. It now looked not unlike violet-colored volcanic glass.

"Careful." Koschei said in a detached tone. The Doctor smiled.

"It's nice to know that you still care." He replied, scanning the glassy venom. Koschei glared at him and walked over to stand beside Rory.

"He's holding Noirglass." Koschei muttered, crossing his arms over his chest. Rory nodded sagely. "It's highly explosive." Koschei added, still observing the other Timelord. Rory just nodded again. "I don't see what makes him think that means I care about him."

"Mmhmn." Rory replied, trying not to smile.

"I think it's cute." Amy remarked. Koschei glared harder.

"Are you quite finished?" He asked the Doctor.

"Mmmm." The Doctor hummed, seeming more focused on testing the Noirglass with his screwdriver than on what was going on around him. Koschei rolled his eyes and began to walk off toward the nearest shop, which was a block and a half away.

"Fine. I'm off to find something to eat." He said over his shoulder causing the Doctor to look up.

"It's okay. I've got him." Amy volunteered and jogged after Koschei. Rory frowned.

"You know, the last time those two went off on their own like that…" Rory remembered.

"I know. You go on ahead. I'm almost done here anyway." The Doctor told him casually, gesturing to the others with one hand.

"You sure?"

"I'll meet up with you in a bit." The Doctor confirmed. Rory studied him uncertainly for a moment before hurrying off after the others. As soon as he was out of sight, the Doctor's amiable façade slipped off his face. He stood up and walked over to the other side of the road. As he'd expected, he found another, smaller splotch of venom in the grass there.

He headed for the abandoned factory, taking note of other signs of habitation, but felt himself stop in mid-step. His every muscle had tensed up as soon as he set foot on the packed dirt of the open lot. That subliminal urge to turn away and forget the place existed amplified tenfold.

"That's quite the perception filter! Where'd you get it from I wonder?" The Doctor remarked, stumbling back a step or two. He closed his eyes and forced himself onward. When he reached the outer wall, he faltered again and had to catch himself against the window frame and winced at the sight that met him. There was a little hole dug into the dirt beneath the broken window, filled with torn, bloody clothing, two discarded wallets and a brown-leather purse. The purse had bloodstains on the strap. He sniffed the air and grimaced. _~How is it that Koschei didn't notice __**this**__?~ _The Doctor wondered, continuing toward the derelict building. The rusted metal doors were chained shut with an even rustier padlock. The Doctor eyed it thoughtfully before simply pulling the lock open with a firm tug and ducking inside.

"Hello?" The Doctor called out of habit. "Is anyone here?" No one answered, but he'd sort of expected that. "Now if I were a nesting pod, where would I be…" He thought aloud as he searched the empty factory by the light of his screwdriver. "Ah. There you are."

The office on the second story platform built against the far wall was full of glistening, white webbing. There was a set of rickety-looking metal stairs leading up to it. The air around the office was saturated with the stench of peroxide. Halfway up the stairs the Doctor triggered his respiratory bypass system in order to avoid the inevitable lung damage, stubbornly continuing into the nest. All around him the slimy webbing dripped pearly-blue fluid onto the dark-green carpeting, leaving yellow and white splotches in their wake. The Doctor noted the patches with a certain amount of grim resignation before he squeezed his tearing eyes shut against the powerful sting. He would have mere seconds to search for clues before the hydrogen peroxide in the air began to cause his eyes and skin grievous harm. So he forced his eyes back open and continued, ignoring his protesting nerves as best he could as he began to search the nest. The Doctor finally caught sight of a hidden console in the far corner. He hastily activated it and watched the code stream across the screen, blinking rapidly as his vision began to blur. _~Come on, almost there…~_ He silently urged, sonic-ing the screen and fussing with the controls while he fought his faltering vision. A planetary diagram appeared showing a blinking blue light in planetary orbit. He could no longer see well enough to read the location, but didn't let that stop him, snapping a couple pictures with his mobile before hastily fleeing the noxious enclosure. The Doctor grinned victoriously as he burst out of the abandoned warehouse, tossing his mobile to himself as he leaned back against the outer door. "Gotcha!"

* * *

Rory frowned slightly as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He glanced at the screen despite knowing who it probably was. Koschei barely glanced up at him from the other side of the aisle before turning back to his perusal of the candy selection.  
"Excuse me." Rory told Amy as he began to leave. " It's the Doctor. I'll be back in a moment."

Amy nodded and put back the sandwich she'd been considering in it's cooler on the other end of the aisle. She looked over at the cashier and flashed him an awkward smile before heading toward Koschei. He was definitely an odd one. The textbook emo that was manning the register had a plaster-white face accented by too much deep-magenta eyeliner. His algae-green hair was combed over one eye with conspicuous intent and his black plastic name tag proudly pronounced his name to be 'Twinkie'. All of this would be mildly amusing in most cases, but the kid just weirded Amy out. For one thing, Twinkie _never_ blinked. At first it seemed merely pretentious. Then, it began to become distracting, especially after she realized the odd way the guy fixated on Koschei, as if waiting for something. The brief moment of looking at him caused Amy's eyes to water in sympathy and she turned away a tad too quickly in an attempt to hide it.

She crept up behind Koschei, watching him sort through the candy in front of him with an air of severe OCD. After a few more deliberate, focused movements of the items before him, he spun around to face her.

"What?" The Timelord demanded rudely. A hungry Koschei was rarely a pleasant one.

"Haven't you decided yet?"

Koschei narrowed his eyes at her before whirling back around to resume his sorting. "No."

"They're only sweets." Amy pointed out, setting down the bag of crisps she'd chosen for herself. She picked up a couple bags that she'd seen the alien consider more than the others and held them out to him. "Here, pick one: licorice or jelly babies? You like these."

"Maybe I'm not in the mood." Koschei returned stubbornly.

"Too bad, I'm paying. So choose." Amy said, shaking the bags to stress her point. Koschei paused, weighing his chances before letting out a little huff.

"Fine." He relented, snatching the bag of licorice.

"Thank you." Amy replied patiently as Rory rejoined them.

"He finally decided? Good. Anyway, change of plans: the Doctor wants us to meet him back at the TARDIS. Also he said there's some note he wants us to read for him."

Koschei raised an eyebrow at the strange news.

"Something about his vision going wonky." Rory elaborated. "I don't know. Are we ready to go?"

"Just a minute. We've gotta pay for this." Amy told him, gesturing to Koschei's licorice with her bag of crisps. She started toward the register, but stopped and turned back when she noticed that he wasn't following. Koschei promptly tossed her his sweets.

"You can go without me. The weird kid smells funny." Koschei explained. Amy shot him an annoyed glare.

"Behave." She told him but continued toward the register anyway.

"Yes, Bhai." He agreed with a winning smile. He turned back to Rory after she'd gone.

"He's hurt himself, hasn't he?"

"He didn't say." Rory replied, beginning to feel suspicious. "Why?"

"He did."

"Okay…"

"He probably found the nest. Hydrogen peroxide vapor causes damage to the eyes, skin and lungs. Respiratory bypass would help him avoid injury to his lungs." Koschei deduced. "Knowing him, neither the pain nor the hazard of exposure would be enough to dissuade him from poking around inside. It would explain his change of plans and his sudden lack of reading ability."

"Makes sense. I'm not seeing the point, though." Rory admitted.

"Did he sound excited?"

"Yep."

"Oh dear." Koschei observed in monotone.

"You aren't going to explain it, are you?"

"Nope."

Rory sighed and followed Amy as she headed out of the store. Behind him Koschei smoothly lifted a lighter, a beanie, and a pair of sunglasses, pocketing them as they left.

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry for the wait guys, this is as soon as i could manage it. Hope you like it. Thanks for reading, and special thanks to Princesspevensie for reviewing. Oh yes, and of course Happy New Year!


	10. Sort of, a bit, but not Really Time Trav

**Chapter 5: Sort of, a Bit, but not Really Time Travel**

Amy and Koschei walked side by side behind Rory towards the mouth of the alley that held the TARDIS. Koschei lagged behind casually munching on his licorice, but no matter how nonchalant he was being about it, the behavior instantly made Rory suspicious. Amy had stuck to the alien's side like glue after noticing the umpteenth distrustful scowl from her husband. However, other than an unusually lazy pace on Koschei's part, he actually seemed to be behaving. Rory found that fact in and of itself very suspect. He glanced back at them over his shoulder before he turned the corner, heading into the alley. Koschei raised his eyebrows at him, not bothering to pull the vine of licorice from his mouth. It was the first sign of acknowledgement he'd bothered to show either of them since they'd left the shop.

"Stop." He stated neutrally, putting a hand up in front of Amy just after the Biosynth had disappeared round the corner.

"What? Why?" Amy sputtered, startled. He shushed her, putting a finger to her lips as he looked about for something. He stared fixedly up at a cracked window in the building across the street. Amy followed his gaze and saw nothing particularly interesting. "Koschei?" She whispered.

"Not a word." Was the immediate reply. He seemed to be calculating something. Then he held out his hand in front of her expectantly. "Quarter." He prompted.

"Rude." She chastened even as she slapped it into his hand like an assisting murse. He looked at it, let out a huff, and gave it back.

"No. A shiny one."

"A shiny one, _please_." She corrected, handing him the requested item.

"Yes, that." He said, adding with a smirk. "Now watch." He flipped the coin up into the air. When it got to a point just above eyelevel between them and the window, it lit up like a prism, reflecting a rainbow of light.

"Oh… Wow. That's… beautiful!" Amy breathed. Koschei caught the coin and grinned cheekily as a white light flashed in the suspect window. "What was that?"

"We were being viewed through a spectrum lens. I just showed you the beam." Koschei explained. "Not visible to the human eye unless distorted."

An annoyed Rory came back around the corner with his arms crossed over his chest. Koschei showed him his innocent face as Rory chucked his phone at him.

"You did that on purpose." Rory grumbled.

"Did what, Tin Man?" Koschei responded smoothly, continuing into the phone before the other man could reply. "Tell me, Doctor, was it worth it?"

"_What? Oh, the ocular damage is temporary. Be better in no time." The Doctor answered amiably over the speaker. "We got a note from Canton. He wants us to contact him as soon as possible."_

"So that's his tail, then." Koschei surmised. Rory scowled at him.

"_What?"_

"He spotted them when you turned the corner." Amy told Rory.

"The second story window above the supply store." Koschei added patronizingly.

"I can see it." Rory snapped.

"_Are you two bickering again?" The Doctor asked._

"No." Koschei responded at the same time that Rory answered "Yes."

Amy face-palmed.

"I'm behaving." Koschei stated, staring challengingly into Rory's eyes.

"_Why?" The Doctor asked, taken aback, before he caught himself. "Wait. I meant—"_

"Oi! Look!" Amy shouted and darted across the street to pursue the figure that'd just dashed out of the shop.

"Call you back." Koschei said hanging up on the Doctor and tossing the phone to Rory as they chased after her.

* * *

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor jumped up out of his seat.

"No wait! Don't! Kos—" He dropped the phone back down on the console. "He hung up on me." He said dejectedly before picking the phone back up and redialing Rory's number.

"_Not a good time Doctor." Rory answered, continuing to run after Amy._

"I figured. Why is that?"

"_Amy spotted the woman who was spying on us. We're sort of chasing her at the moment."_

"Koschei too." The Doctor concluded.

_"Yep."_

"Listen, whatever you do, don't lose him. He's behaving. He _never_ behaves."

"_Got it." Rory acknowledged. Then there was a loud crash. "Bollocks!" Rory exclaimed and hung up._

The Doctor sighed and sat back down. He still had to wait for the treatment on his eyes to take effect. He would have to remain inside until then.

* * *

Rory pressed himself against the brick wall of the building in order to avoid being hit by the falling barrels. Amy tripped and fell in her shuffle to avoid being crushed. Koschei paused only to help her up and make certain that she was okay before he ditched them to pursue their escaping quarry.

"Rory?" She called to her husband.

"I'm fine! Go!" Rory called back. Amy hesitated for a second before resuming her chase.

Rory rolled one of the barrels out of his way with his foot, noting absently that the brand of beer was inferior, in his opinion.

"That's one bar to avoid." He commented to no one in particular and jogged over to the other side of the building.

"Hey!" A man (presumably an employee of said bar) called after him, noticing the mess, and Rory decided this was the proper time to break into a run.

"Sorry, Mate!" He shouted, turning the corner and looking for the others. When he finally caught up to them about a block and a half down the street, Amy already had the other woman pinned to the wall with an arm held behind her back.

"I'm warning you, you should let me go! You don't know who you're dealing with!" The woman protested.

"Who's that then?" Amy returned, not the least bit intimidated.

"I'm a government agent, Secret Service. If you'll just release me I can show you my badge." The woman said. Amy paused to consider this.

"Like a Warehouse Agent?" She guessed, surprising her captive.

"Where'd he go?" Rory muttered, looking around for any sign of Koschei. Amy begrudgingly released her grip and glanced over at him.

"Who?" The supposed Agent inquired more calmly, reaching into her jacket pocket.

"I don't know." Amy said, pacing a bit as her gaze darted around. "He was right behind me just a moment ago! Yes, got it. That's a badge!" She added shortly when Agent Wells presented her identification.

"I'm sorry, but if you mean to say that someone was with you when you grabbed me, I'm afraid you were alone." H.G. informed her. Amy turned to stare at her.

"No, I wasn't. He was right here! He even got here ahead of me!" Amy disagreed. H.G. just shook her head. "He helped me catch you!" Amy insisted as if she were mad.

"I didn't see anyone but you." Wells assured her.

"You're saying that you never saw the skinny ginger bloke chasing after you." Rory clarified. "About six foot three? Dressed all in white?"

"Oh, yes. I did see him." H.G. confirmed, and Amy gestured to her victoriously, only to be disappointed when the other woman continued. "But we left him behind a ways back."

"I don't… When?" Amy queried, feeling the hairs rise on the back of her neck.

"He stopped running shortly after we left the alley." Wells said easily.

"But I saw—" Amy's face lit with realization. "That bloody _bastard_! He hypnotized me!"

"He hypnotized you?" Wells echoed, at a loss. Both Ponds ignored her.

"You're sure?" Rory said, stepping closer.

"When he helped me up." Amy confirmed, with a curt nod. "He was staring at me for too long. Right in the eyes!"

"The Doctor warned me not to let him out of my sight." Rory remembered, not at all looking forward to letting the Timelord know just how quickly he'd failed.

"Oh, I am going to kill him!" Amy fumed. "What the hell is he thinking?"

"Not to interrupt, but who?"

Both Ponds turned to look at her. There was an awkward pause before Rory answered.

"Apollo Pond." Making it sound almost like a question. Amy shot him a look.

* * *

Koschei smiled to himself as he shed his white button-down shirt, revealing the worn-out 'The Clash' T-shirt that he'd had hidden underneath. He abandoned the other shirt, along with his jacket, on top of the garbage can that he was strolling past, then just as casually picked up the slightly torn, black denim jacket off the end of the bench. He shrugged it on as he rounded the corner. There was pallid but immaculately dressed middle aged woman watching Koschei from the diner to his left. He smirked and winked at her as he reached the corner, tugging on the red beanie that he'd stolen earlier. She didn't even bat an eyelash. He shrugged at her, undaunted by her continued stare. She took a long drag of her coffee before giving in and giving him a little wave.

"That's more like it."

Koschei grinned broadly at her before turning away and jogging across the street, headed back towards the point of origin.

* * *

Claudia sat across from Mr. Valda at their window adjacent table in 'Bud's Coffee', a local coffee shop that somehow actually did have WiFi and a flood of customers, despite the overall terribleness of the actual coffee. Claudia suspected they were mostly there for the WiFi. Mr. Valda pointed out in reply that the pastry was edible, as if that would be enough. Then again, this was a fairly small town.

The whole place had a pastel, flowery grandma sort of theme to it. It was the type of décor in which one would not be shocked to find antique dolls in frilly dresses, or figurines of various birds. Luckily, Claudia had not yet spotted any.

"So why are we waiting here, exactly?" Claudia asked as the nice young girl who had taken their order (most likely the owner's kid) brought over her strudel. "Thanks."

"We're meeting someone." Valda replied easily.

"Okay, cryptic. Am I allowed to know who this mysterious someone is?"

The bell on the door jingled to announce a new arrival and Valda smiled. Claudia turned around to try and see who had inspired such a reaction.

"Canton!" A young man in an ill-fitting tweed suit and red bowtie called happily as he came over to their table.

"Doctor." Mr. Valda returned, accepting a hug. "Nice to see you again." He glanced over the Doctor's shoulder and added in a more characteristic tone. "Agent Wells."

"Sir, I can explain." Agent Wells began, sounding uncomfortable.

"No need. Agent Nielsen sent you to spy on us." Valda said smoothly. "Amy, Rory…" He trailed off, noticing that one was missing. "Where's Apollo?"

"He ran off." The Doctor explained, clearly displeased.

"What, again?" Valda asked.

"What?"

"Never mind, must not have happened to you yet. This is Junior Agent Claudia Donovan." Valda deflected quickly, prompting H.G. to narrow her eyes at him.

"Um, hi. Yeah, I'm Claudia." Claudia said with a little awkward wave. The Doctor immediately flitted over to her.

"Claudia." He muttered, looking her over intently. "You're the one who had the vision."

"Um, yes?" Claudia said, looking questioningly over at Mr. Valda as the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began to scan her with it.

"Sorry. He does that." Amy told her apologetically, taking a seat beside her. "Don't worry. He knows what he's doing."

"Okay…" Claudia muttered, but recovered quickly. She was a Warehouse Agent, after all. It took a lot to weird her out. "So, you were with Dream-Dude in the alley."

"Dream dude?" Rory echoed, from his seat beside Valda.

"Apollo." Mr. Valda explained. "She saw him in her premonition last night."

"Nope." The Doctor piped in, returning his sonic to his pocket and straightening up.

"Excuse me?" Claudia responded, nonplussed.

"Not a premonition." The Doctor expanded. "They're mostly rubbish anyway, especially on Earth. Psychics playing scams."

"Doctor…" Amy warned gently.

"Tell me, Claudia, what did you see?"

"I'm not lying. I didn't—"

"Yes, sorry. I know, but it wasn't a premonition. What did you see?" The Doctor persevered.

"I… Well, I was dead in a crashed car. Dream dude—I mean, Apollo was in the passenger's seat, and there were these guys—Like, military, or SWAT guys, or something- with guns, chasing us. They found us and he tried to run for it, but they shot him. Listen, I know it's bizarre, but this is going to happen. I can feel it! If it wasn't a premonition then what was it?"

"Time travel…ish." The Doctor replied.

"Time travel is impossible!" H.G. countered incredulously. The Doctor grinned broadly in amusement.

"Did you hear that Amy? H.G. Wells just told me that time travel is impossible!" They shared an excited and amused giggle at that. Rory smiled.

"It is! I've looked into it!" H.G. insisted. "Why is that funny?"

"Apollo's going to love you." Valda observed, falling back into the old pattern. Rory nodded in agreement.

"Sorry. Seriously, it was sort of time travel, metaphysics." The Doctor said, sobering. "You didn't, but you also sort of did reside in a future."

"So she popped into the future and saw what could happen." H.G. guessed skeptically. The Doctor tilted his head to one side in an almost shrug.

"If you like. Yes, a bit, but not really. She witnessed a future, certainly. She's buzzing with chronon radiation."

"With what now?" Claudia inquired, feeling utterly lost.

"Time particles." Rory supplied calmly.

"Ah."

"One more thing, though, very interesting and just a tad impossible." The Doctor continued. "There was something in your hand." The others frowned at him, waiting for him to continue. "There are actually traces of a third radiation signature in your right palm. Barely anything, but the signature is still recognizable. It doesn't match either temporal destination."

"How? Where- When is it?" Amy asked. The Doctor didn't answer, just stared into space for a few seconds before jumping up out of his chair and bolting outside.

He ran out onto the sidewalk and looked around as if searching for something.

"Hello, Doctor." An emotionless feminine voice greeted from behind him. The Doctor whirled around to face a tall, dark-haired woman in a business suit. She was leaning back against the outer wall of the restaurant, pretending to have a smoke, but no smoky breath escaped her dark red lips.

"What do you want with him?" The Doctor demanded. "He doesn't have the artifact if that's what you're after."

Valda and Amy hurried out of the coffee shop and skidded to a halt when they noticed the exchange going on.

"It could prove useful to have, I suppose." The too-pale woman admitted, not-taking another puff of her cigarette. "That's not our directive."

"So just the murder, then." The Doctor countered accusingly.

"We are performing our function, Doctor. You should let us do so." The woman replied, unfazed.

"She's a Gremlin!" Amy realized. The Doctor came forward until he was toe to toe with the Gremlin woman.

"If you continue to threaten my friends, I will stop you." He warned. "This is your chance to walk away."

"We are not your enemy, Doctor." The Gremlin responded, dropping her cigarette and stamping it out with her expensive looking high-heeled pump. "And he is not your friend." She turned and walked away around the corner, with the Doctor gazing solemnly after her.

"You're just letting her go?" Amy asked disbelievingly.

"Yes." The Doctor confirmed, still solemn. He finally stopped staring after her when the others joined them outside. "Well, I say _just_." He added. His expression changing to a cocky half-smile, he pulled his sonic out of his pocket and tossed it to himself.

"What I'm really doing is tracking her. She's been near him recently." He said, tapping his nose.

"That sounds more like you." Valda remarked. "Where to?"

"Ah, what about Seattle?" The Doctor interjected abruptly.

"Seattle?" H.G. questioned.

"I've got Agents there, but how did you know?" Valda inquired.

"I didn't. We're splitting up." The Doctor concluded. "Claudia, Rory, H.G., you're with me." Valda looked like he really wanted to argue, but to the surprise of the Warehouse agents present. He reigned it in with a stiff nod.

"Back to the Warehouse for us, I guess." Valda supposed.

"Yes, perfect." The Doctor agreed. "Come on, you lot, before we lose her!" He called to his team and disappeared around the corner with Rory and Claudia close behind. H.G. hesitated momentarily to look askance at Valda. He nodded to her and she ran off after the others.

* * *

**A/N:** Yes. I know this chapter is both late, and long. Hopefully one makes up for the other. Thanks for reading. Special thanks to Mistydrop for the review. Feel free to mention any questions impressions and theories or whatever. It's always good to hear what you guys think of this.


	11. The Rebel Waltz

**Chapter 6: The Rebel Waltz**

Koschei stepped out of the bathroom stall, now fully changed out of his trademark white attire, and shoved his unwanted white trousers into the trashcan. This was a far cry from a full disguise, but it would do as long as he kept his distance.

He was good at disappearing. He always had been. It had been a necessity during his and Theta's less than storybook childhood, and his Stilkean training had only reinforced that.

"Just a question of time…" He reminded himself softly. There was a sliding clank behind him.

"What is he doing?" He closed his eyes at the sound of the unfortunately familiar, female voice, refusing to turn and look. "Mmm, check the readings again. Keep him under."

Koschei growled softly to himself. Someone in the background was talking but he couldn't make out what they were saying.

"No." Eye-patch said in the same bored tone as usual. Koschei turned to stare bitterly at her. "He's dreaming. Proceed on schedule." She shut the slat and it disappeared into the blank white wall.

"Dreaming indeed." Koschei muttered and moved over to the sink to splash water on his face. He turned the taps back off and stared at his reflection for a moment, then sighed. "Let's get started, shall we?" He prompted, slapped his prewritten sticky-note over his reflection's eyes and made his exit. He activated his laser-screwdriver as he passed the other trash can and tossed it in, leaving the whole room echoing with its building high-pitched ringing. When he got to the shop's exit, he paused in the doorway to light himself a cigarette, completely ignoring the shouts and panic around him when the restroom door was blasted away from the wall in a surge of red light.

As predicted, the only other person who didn't react was the pallid, staring emo-kid at the register. He barely flinched, reaching under the counter in front of him when Koschei turned to look back at him. Instead of confronting him however, Koschei simply met his gaze evenly, breathing out a puff of cigarette-smoke before he strode gracefully out of the store, disappearing into the chaos around him.

* * *

The Doctor, Rory, Claudia and a less enthusiastic H.G. followed quietly after the gremlin woman at a safe distance. When they got halfway past the park however, the Doctor abruptly halted. Rory and Claudia actually had to double back and rejoin him, not having noticed quite fast enough.

"Hey, what's up Doc?" Claudia asked. Rory raised an eyebrow at her.

"You did not just reference Bugs Bunny."

Claudia grinned.

"Oh yes I did." She confirmed. "And I even enjoyed it, too."

The Doctor ignored the exchange, reaching into the nearby trash can and pulling out a familiar white jacket.

"That's…" Rory trailed off, not liking the implications of this discovery.

"Mr. Pond's jacket, I assume." H.G. finished. The Doctor frowned, looking through it.

"Apollo's." The Doctor amended, and gestured vaguely toward Rory without looking up. "He's Mr. Pond."

"I guess…" Rory mumbled, a little thrown by the remark. "Um, is he...?"

The Doctor scanned the jacket with his sonic and relaxed minutely.

"No blood, no laser, no tears: he wasn't taken then. Would've put up a fight." He deduced, then proceeded to shove his face in the discarded jacket and give it a good sniff. The other's expressions ranged from incredulous to slightly grossed out.

"And why are we smelling the trash jacket now, Matlock?" Claudia inquired.

"What- Oh, it's really not that bad yet. Still smells more like him." The Doctor corrected earning varying amused or curious looks for the comment. "Not that it's relevant in any way. It smells a bit too clean actually, new, even, come to think of it." He looked quizzically at the jacket, almost as if he thought it might somehow be doing this to mess with him.

"I don't know what that means." H.G. said, looking to Claudia who shrugged. The Doctor turned a suddenly very intent, businesslike gaze on Rory.

"When you were away earlier did you notice anything out of the ordinary?"

"He was behaving?" Rory guessed.

"This isn't a test, Rory." The Doctor clarified, still staring piercingly into Rory's eyes. "Not him. There was something else. Something set him off. What happened after we parted ways?" Rory paused for a minute to think about it.

"Umm… I guess there was that teenager minding the till. It seemed like Amy was getting a little creeped out by him." Rory remembered, figuring it out as he went. "Koschei didn't want to go up to the counter with her. He said he 'smelled funny'."

"A creepy, smelly kid?" Claudia summarized. "You think _that_ was enough to make him go AWOL?"

"It's in the subtext." Rory defended, just as H.G.'s Farnsworth went off. The Doctor winced at the unpleasant sound.

"Sorry." H.G. apologized.

"Still haven't fixed that yet?" The Doctor remarked, watching her answer before he turned away and began looking around for other clues.

"Doctor." H.G called, holding out the communications device to him.

"Right." He accepted the device. "Hello, Canton."

"Hey Doc. You know, my name's actually Benedict Valda now. Anyway, we just got another ping." Valda reported "Look's like your partner's up to something. I think you're going to want to come see it for yourself."

* * *

Koschei stopped walking halfway down the street. He dropped his cigarette butt and casually stamped it out, outwardly unbothered by the eyes boring into his back.

"It's about time you came out of your hole." Koschei drawled, then turned to face his pursuer and raised an eyebrow at the sight of the stylish businesswoman.

"You were expecting someone different?" She returned, her voice lacking any real emotion.

"Another guise perhaps. There isn't much variation with your lot, as far as I've seen." Koschei dismissed. "Let's not dawdle. Who sent you after me?"

"It would be unprofessional to reveal such sensitive information." The Gremlin pronounced.

"Yes, but it would be the wise thing to do." Koschei countered, taking a few steps towards her as he studied her face.

"You cannot compel me." She informed him, staring apathetically into his eyes. He stifled a chuckle.

"Ah, no. Your people aren't very responsive to suggestion. I'll make this simple for you, and this does go for all of you. Are you suicidal?"

"No."

"Then I suggest that you retreat."

"We anticipated your threats." Was the Gremlin's almost defiant reply. Koschei outright laughed in her face this time.

"Who, _me_?" He queried, spreading his arms wide in a pseudo-submissive gesture and grinning like the Cheshire cat. "Why, Darling! Didn't you see? I'm unarmed!"

"The Master is never unarmed." Gremlin recited, and just like that, Koschei's face was dead serious as he peered down at her and stepped into her personal space. They eyed each other coldly for a beat, then Koschei leaned down to whisper in her ear.

"Why would I need weapons when I've got _him."_ He said, reaching for her collar. When he pulled back, he showed her the tiny, clear plastic tracking marker he'd pulled from her collar. It was still glowing blue. She hissed at him, baring her needlelike teeth. Her eyes turned to slits. Before she could spit her acid at him, he swept a leg out, knocking her off her feet, only to catch her around her shoulders before she could hit the ground.

"Bad choice." Koschei informed her before throwing her headfirst into the wall to his right and knocking her out cold. "Think on it, won't you?" He asked softly then turned and jogged off across the street to look for someplace to lay low for a while.

* * *

The Doctor stepped into the now cordoned off little shop and was immediately joined by an unfamiliar warehouse agent.

"What's up, Artie?" Claudia asked as she and H.G. caught up to them. He paused in his suspicious perusal of the Doctor to give her a nod, only to return to his accusatory squinting within seconds.

"Doctor Smith, I'm Agent Nielsen. I've been sent here to escort you through this crime scene." Artie told the Doctor gruffly. The Doctor ignored his harshness and smiled pleasantly at him, holding out a hand.

"Nice to meet you, Agent Nielsen, and please call me the Doctor."

Artie looked down at his hand but didn't shake it. He instead turned to the others. "Agent Wells, you're wanted back at the Warehouse. Pete and Myka think they may have identified the artifact."

H.G. nodded. "I'll help however I can."

"Yes, wonderful." Artie said briskly. "Claudia and whoever you are—"

"Rory." Rory supplied.

"Don't touch anything; this is officially a crime scene." Agent Nielsen continued as if Rory hadn't spoken.

"Got it: hands off. No problem." Rory agreed sounding a tad resigned.

"Right, now we've made that clear, care to show us what the fuss is about?" The Doctor prompted.

"Right this way," Artie said after a slight hesitation and they let him lead them back towards the restrooms after exchanging quick farewells with H.G.

"There was a moderately sized explosion in here about an hour ago, made up of some sort of high intensity red light." Artie explained as he led them into the wrecked men's room. "As you can see, the blast was intense enough to blow the door all the way across the hall, but gave off no heat at all. It didn't even warm the tiles."

"What about the casualties?" Rory asked looking at the scattered remains of the trash receptacle on the wall near the door.

"None that we know of." Artie admitted.

"You think that this had to do with Apollo Pond?" Claudia asked watching the Doctor poke through the rubble near the damaged wall.

"According to witness accounts and descriptions—" Artie began, but the Doctor cut him off.

"He did this." He confirmed grimly and tossed an abused metallic object to Rory. Rory looked down at it, then back at the Doctor, looking shocked.

"His laser!"

"Yep. He sent it into a feedback loop, overloaded the luminal relays. What does that make? A big scary explosion with a minimum of actual permanent damage."

"A flash bang." Claudia summarized.

"If you like." The Doctor conceded, walking over to the sinks. He turned the knob to make sure it was still working perfectly with no damage to the plumbing. "He wanted attention."

"When doesn't he?" Rory remarked. Artie hadn't taken the news as well.

"So, what? You're saying that your guy just barged in here and blew up a public bathroom just because he wanted attention?"

"No one was harmed." The Doctor pointed out pulling a post-it note off of the mirror in front of him and scrunching up his brow as he read it. "You should consider yourself lucky that's all he wanted."

"Doctor?" Rory asked sounding almost as disturbed by the remark as the two Agents accompanying them. The Doctor pocketed the note, looking grim.

"According to the regents he was one of your people." Artie snapped. "One of the good guys! What the hell do you think this is?"

"He's rebelling." The Doctor concluded turning to meet Rory's gaze. "This is just a warning shot."

* * *

Koschei looked at his hand as he leaned against the outer wall of yet another abandoned building near the point of origin. He splayed out his fingers and tried again, but just like the times he'd tried before, there was nothing but a brief scattering of sparks. He tried again. Of course, it was the same. He rubbed his hands together to build the energy, even though he knew by now that there wouldn't be anything but a rather pathetic, low voltage, flickering.

He was beginning to fear he knew what had caused this. He'd been like this since their little adventure in '69. He'd been pretending to the others it hadn't happened since then. After all, low voltage or not, it was still at least good enough for show. He'd instantly known they'd done this to him, the Silence. He just needed to figure out how, and why.

Now though, to his disgust and building anger, he was becoming more and more certain as to how. There wasn't much he could do to be constructive about it if he was correct. That didn't matter to him much right now. He might not be constructive, but if there was one thing he had mastered, it was the art of being destructive.

He looked up at the empty air in front of him as it was invaded by that damned opening slat. He grinned at the one-eyed woman as she made a few cool, clinical observations to someone out of sight and turned back to him.

"Let's play a game." He purred.

"Up the dosage. Containment is vital, as you know." She concluded, oblivious and closed the slat. He looked down at his hands and rubbed them together, watching them flicker in the fading light.

"They always believe that they can control me." He mused, then grinned the Master's manic grin. "Their mistake."

The energy in his hands sputtered out and he flinched. It was happening again. The other one was pushing against his mind, trying to take control. Like that was going to happen. He growled and fought the other personality back down. The pressure continued but he was stubborn. "That is quite enough of that!" He growled and knocked his head back against the wall. Control was his again, and he was _not_ giving it up.

* * *

**A/N: **Yes, I did. I named it after a Clash song. It was hard to title and I thought it fitting, especially since Kos' now sporting a Clash Tshirt. That's probably faulty reasoning, but whatever. I'm a little nervous about the imagery in this one. There were a few moments that I pictured very vividly in my head that I was quite fond of. Unfortunately, not sure it translated into to text... Oh well. Might have to fix it later. Anyway, thanks for reading. Special thanks for this round goes to Princesspevensie and Mistydrop for reviewing. (Wow this note is long.) As always, I'd love to hear what you think.


	12. Non-Combatant Variable

**Chapter 7: Non-Combatant Variable**

"Okay. Just to clarify, am I the only one who has no idea what's going on right now?" Claudia asked as she buckled her seatbelt and waited for the Doctor and company to finish piling into the SUV.

"I doubt it." Rory replied, looking meaningfully out of his window at the still irate Artie who was berating one of the police by the store's exit. Claudia let out a huff and continued.

"Really though, just to recap: this all started—from my point of view at least—when I dreamed or not quite time-travelled to the future to see myself and your buddy Apollo get killed off by some guys in combat gear. Shortly afterwards, you guys pop up out of nowhere in a 1960's police box, that I'm pretty sure must be an artifact of some kind, and get attacked by what seems to be an explosive member of the undead. To top it all off, right before we can all meet up, Apollo goes missing only to blow up a diner and go rogue for no apparent reason! But according to you, this does _apparently_ have something to do with the case in Seattle."

"I wouldn't call it 'going rogue'. That just sounds silly." The Doctor commented from the passenger seat beside her. Claudia glared at him.

"We followed a signal here." Rory explained before Claudia could snap and begin strangling the Doctor. "There was a temporal disturbance and we tracked the signal to two separate locations: here, and Seattle. That's the connection between the two cases."

"So you think that the artifact in Seattle caused this?" Claudia questioned, frowning. The Doctor tilted his head.

"Mmm, could be. Probably not that simple, but that would certainly be a nice change of pace. In this case, I think the distortion might actually be the least of our problems." The Doctor admitted. "The alien that you saw attack us was one of a team of assassins sent after Apollo."

"The _alien_?" Claudia echoed in surprise.

"Yes." The Doctor confirmed as if it were nothing. "Remember where you work. Someone set a nest of Gremlins on him."

Claudia's eyes widened at the word 'Gremlins' Rory shot her a sympathetic look.

"I don't know what for yet, but I have a number of theories." The Doctor continued, caught up in the new puzzle. "I thought at first that they were interested in the artifact, the same as us. I was wrong. Now don't misunderstand, a device that can manipulate time in that way has no place here on Earth, at least not for a few more millennia. That sort of power is too much to risk falling into the wrong hands, but they know that as well as we do. It isn't about the artifact anymore. Someone powerful is pulling the strings, and I intend to figure out who they are very soon."

There was a brief silence while Rory and Claudia digested this.

"Alright, then what's the plan?" Claudia asked, resting her hands on the steering wheel.

"I'll let you know." The Doctor replied, turning to glance out the windscreen. "Why don't we start with him?" He said, jumping out of the SUV and heading off toward the far edge of the police cordon.

"What?" Rory muttered. Claudia watched the Doctor for a second or two before raising her eyebrows incredulously.

"Well what'd ya know! It's stinky emo-kid." She remarked, pulling her keys back out of the engine and hurrying after him. Rory was about to join her when his phone buzzed.

* * *

"I have to go and help him." Amy argued stubbornly. Valda and the other Warehouse Agent _~Or is she a shrink?~_ Leena exchanged a tense glance.

"Listen, Amy. He's my friend, too. You know that I want to find him as much as you do." Canton tried. "But I also know him well enough to trust that he can take care of himself for a while and we need you here. This artifact that we're dealing with, it's an immediate risk to us all. Something is warping the fabric of time and space, and you and your team are the only experts that we have on the subject."

"Just call Torchwood." Amy responded, calling his bluff. Leena got up from her seat on the couch, setting aside the file that she'd been perusing.

"You know about Torchwood." Canton said, feeling that this was one of those times the two were a little too much alike, never could fool Koschei either.

"Apollo and I don't keep secrets from each other." Amy stated simply. Valda shot her a challenging look.

"You believe that?"

Amy crossed her arms over her chest and didn't bother to answer.

"Listen Miss Pond, I know that you're worried about your brother." Leena tried, in what Amy was sure she must imagine to be a soothing tone. It only served to grate further on Amy's frayed nerves. "Our people are already doing everything they can to track him down."

Valda winced at his associate's poor choice of wording, having known Amy long enough to instantly know how it would cost them.

"I'm sure they are." Amy retorted, sounding dangerous. Her dark eyes flicked from Leena to Valda. "He's not the villain here, no matter what it looks like!" Amy insisted as H.G. came into the office behind her.

Neither Agent looked very convinced.

"This is a bad time." H.G. observed. Amy glanced back over her shoulder to acknowledge the other woman's presence before continuing.

"Everything he does is for a reason."

"Leena, if you wouldn't mind…" Valda prompted, nodding toward H.G. Leena nodded and led H.G. out of the room to debrief her on the mission in Seattle. "You know his history." He reminded Amy evenly.

Amy stiffened.

"Better than you do." She snapped coldly.

Valda and Amy stared each other down for a few more seconds before Mr. Valda finally broke the silence.

"I think I know what this is really about."

Amy raised an eyebrow.

"I've been wondering about it too." He continued. "We were all there. The old team all together again… except Koschei. Agent Donovan went to a future and she saw him die. Then some pale, alien bastards come and try to kill him. So, now _you're_ wondering if maybe this is why he wasn't around."

Amy deflated slightly. "The thought did occur to me."

"Claudia died too." Valda pointed out. "And the Doctor, for that matter. So what? You travel in time as if it's a lifestyle. We can just change what happens."

"It's not that easy." Amy said. "There are rules to it. I don't really know them but the Doctor and Koschei do… He told me once that you can't change your future. He'd witnessed something terrible and I wanted to stop it. But that's how it works, if you've seen your future then it is because it's already happened."

"You really believe that?"

"I don't want to, but he's the Master for a reason. He knows what he's doing." Amy shrugged and flashed him a sad smile. "Well, you know me. I'm still looking for a loophole."

Valda smiled. "Now if only he'd stop behaving so randomly and start making sense—"

"He didn't want to go." Amy blurted out suddenly. Valda frowned.

"Care to clarify that?"

"When we were first tracing the distortion back, Koschei and the Doctor had a disagreement over the landing site." Amy recalled. "He didn't want to land here which made the Doctor instantly want to, so then Koschei suggested we split up, making the Doctor want us to stick together."

"Okay, so what? Maybe he just knew this spot was more likely to have gremlins hunting him." Valda pointed out. Amy shook her head, becoming even more sure of herself.

"But that's just it, isn't it! That's always been his strength! He knows people and he always knows what they think of _him_." Amy explained energetically. "Just like you mentioned before in the Master's history. How does one man take over a planet? He gets the locals to do it for him. He isn't trying to avoid South Dakota. He's exactly where he wants to be!"

* * *

"You're a bit out of place now, aren't you?" The Doctor asked loudly as he strolled up to the emo-kid with his hands folded casually behind his back, catching Artie's attention.

"Wait, shut up!" Artie snapped at the cop he'd just been talking to, studying the Doctor closely. "What is he doing?"

At the sound of the Doctor's question the boy tensed, coiled like a spring ready to bolt. He was staring calculatingly into the Timelord's face. The Doctor pressed 'send' on the mobile phone he held behind his back.

"Oh, I know." The Doctor confirmed, stone-faced. The kid was off like a shot fleeing at top speed.

"Son of a bitch!" Claudia swore and chased after him. "Don't let him get away!" She shouted at the policeman she passed, who hadn't reacted fast enough for her liking. They chased the amazingly agile teen through a grimy, litter-filled alley where they should have easily cornered him. Instead he scrabbled up the wall like a gecko and fled over the barbed wire fence that would have otherwise blocked his escape.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Claudia complained, climbing up onto the dumpster and flinging her jacket over the barbed wire so that she could continue after him less gracefully. She looked over her shoulder halfway over the fence at a scraping sound and a muffled "What the hell?!" to see him pushing a pickup truck sideways towards her to block the opening before continuing his escape. She glared in aggravation and jumped down off the fence and vaulted over the hood of the vehicle with a shout of: "Sorry!"

Claudia hurried round the corner and pushed herself faster as her prey bolted into oncoming traffic. She had to skid to a halt to avoid becoming road kill, and watched him run up the side of a truck and continue over it. Instead of landing on the other side however, she heard a swish and a gagging sound. She probably shouldn't have felt so happy about that.

She quickly rushed across the street with an evil grin on her face to join Rory on the other side. The gagging sound had been caused by him catching their quarry by the throat as he dropped.

"Yes!" Claudia fist pumped. "Take that, Wall-crawler!" The emo gave her a withering look even as he dug his nails into Rory's hand.

"And may I just say: bwahaha!" Claudia continued, unrepentant. The Doctor came up behind her at a more reasonable pace.

"You didn't really think that was going to work did you?" He inquired of the captured gremlin. "Oh, and here you go, Claudia." He said, tossing Claudia her phone. She immediately patted her pockets in surprise. "Yeah, sorry. I borrowed it."

"He's corrupting you." Emo gremlin noted. Rory tightened his grip a little.

"Rory." The Doctor warned. Rory set the assassin down but didn't release him.

"You shouldn't hinder us." Emo gremlin warned. The Doctor looked annoyed at the presumption.

"You haven't got a leg to stand on." He pointed out angrily. "You've eaten a child! You're wearing his skin, and all of this is done as a means to an end, in order to assassinate my closest friend." Claudia paled at the discovery of the creature's means of disguise. She suddenly felt like she might vomit. Rory paused for beat, going perfectly still, before leaning forward to advise the prisoner matter-of-factly.

"You should really start talking now, Mate."

"He's not an operative." The gremlin dismissed flicking his gaze to meet the Doctor's. "A non-combatant variable."

"That just means _he _won't kill you." Rory countered icily.

"Who's giving the orders?" The Doctor asked the gremlin, ignoring the exchange.

"Call off your cipher and I'll tell you what you need to know." Was the businesslike response. The Doctor narrowed his eyes, sensing a catch. "But I won't breach my contract." The gremlin finished. There it was. The Doctor frowned at him Rory and Claudia shared a confused look.

"You're saying your employers are letting you talk about their plan with us." Claudia noted.

"Exactly."

"They do know that we're the opposition?" Rory said incredulously. The gremlin continued to look meaningfully into the Doctor's eyes.

"Not as they see it. I've been instructed to do you no harm. I expect you will show me similar respect."

The Doctor took a deep breath and nodded. His expression was unreadable.

"Okay, Rory, let him go."

Rory hesitated before begrudgingly releasing his grip on the creature's throat. The gremlin hissed at him before smiling nastily at the Doctor.

"I'm listening." The Doctor prompted.

"We were chosen to stop the abomination. We stop the _synthetic_ Timelord, by destroying it."

"He may be engineered, but he isn't synthetic." Rory corrected, not missing the implied insult. He'd long ago come to accept certain races' opinion of what they perceived to be 'imitation life-forms'.

"Not like a _ciphorra_." The gremlin hissed pointedly at him. "But he is a similar mistake."

"Let's not bring race into this." Rory deadpanned, knowing it would bother the bigot even more.

"And even mercenaries know weapons should not be coddled." Emo-gremlin countered.

"Who's your employer?" The Doctor inquired, ignoring the sting, but Rory could see in his eyes that one had hit home. The Doctor had taken the discovery of the Master's true origin pretty personally.

"Old friends. They wish to remain anonymous at the present time. They give their assurance that the Master is a threat." The gremlin explained. "They request that you allow it to be dealt with this time."

"It looks pretty clear to me that these aren't really the good guys." Claudia said, still looking a little greenish as she studied the gremlin. Two police officers had joined them and were cuffing the smirking assassin.

"Sir?" One asked the Doctor politely.

"Take him away. I'm finished with him." The Doctor dismissed. The gremlin's smirk vanished instantly.

"We had an understanding!" He snarled. The Doctor turned away, unmoved.

"I have done you no harm." He said almost off-handedly, beginning to walk away. "Come along Rory."

* * *

**A/N: Okay so... there you are, chapter 7. I'm not 100% sure about the ending but... Hope it's good. Thanks for reading this and special thanks to Mistydrop for the review. Feel free to tell me what you think guys. Feedback really does help.**


	13. In Which There is Fire

**Chapter 8: In Which There is Fire**

The Doctor followed the signal from the tracker until they'd supposedly reached its source.

"Okay, nothing's here." Claudia observed bitterly. "Which means we've lost them again." The Doctor walked over to the curb and crouched down to pull the clear plastic tracking strip out of the gutter, eying it thoughtfully.

"She ditched the tracker." He muttered to himself, lost in his head for the moment.

"Well, these guys are professionals, right? She must've found it and tossed it." Claudia said, shuffling her feet as she waited behind him.

"Yeah, but here? It seems…random." Rory pointed out. "I mean who does that? Walking down the street from point A to point B and, oh my! There's a miniscule tracker on my collar. Better throw that in the ditch without destroying it! 'Cause they've earned knowledge of my whereabouts thus far."

"I don't know. Maybe she's just _that_ good. You know who's trained to find that stuff? Badass super-villains! Sound familiar to you?" Claudia shot back. In the background, the Doctor was sniffing the air experimentally, seemingly oblivious.

"You've watched far too many films." Rory replied. Claudia opened her mouth to retort, but the Doctor beat her to it.

"Stilkean Masters are." He put in, standing up.

"What?" Claudia asked. Rory stared at him.

"You think the Master was here… Helping her?"

"I don't know, but yes he was here. He'd be observant enough to find the tracking strip." The Doctor said, with a shrug. "Just a thought."

"Can you track his scent from here?" Rory queried, earning a WTF look from Claudia.

"This way." The Doctor indicated with a wave and started off down the street.

* * *

Amy and Mr. Valda looked up at Artie as he closed his Farnsworth and turned towards them.

"Pete and Myka have the artifact." He reported. "It turned out to be some kind of huge diamond. It doesn't match any files in our archive, but they've seen it in action so..."

Valda nodded, mulling it over as Artie crossed back over from the filing cabinet to reclaim his seat at his desk.

"It's a brand new artifact." Valda stated, leaning against the desk on Amy's other side.

"Recently discovered, at least." Artie agreed.

"Is that rare?" Amy asked, looking back and forth between the two.

"Fairly rare, yes. In this case, it does make perfect sense. The effects seem to be rather unique from my understanding of it." Mr. Valda admitted. "You said that they witnessed it in action?"

"Yes." Artie barked. "There was a fire at the mansion where it was being kept. According to Myka, the guy appraising it handed it to her right before the roof collapsed. She'd had nightmares about burning to death upon their arrival in Seattle. She managed to get out with the artifact just in time, but the appraiser didn't make it."

"So, what? It warns you of your death ahead of time…" Amy said with a frown.

"And then it tries to kill you? It looks like it." Artie finished. "Death has been following this thing everywhere it goes, and those who lived to tell the tale all reported experiencing incredibly realistic premonitions of their death, days in advance."

"They've neutralized it successfully?" Valda clarified.

"Yes. They should arrive in a few hours." Artie confirmed with a nod.

"Um… So, how are they getting back here so quickly?" Amy asked. She'd been getting an odd feeling that something horrible was about to happen, ever since they'd separated at the coffee shop, and the mention of this strange temporal gemstone had pushed it into overdrive.

"A private jet." Artie said, looking a little uncomfortable with the fact as well.

"Great." Amy remarked sarcastically. "Well, at least they wouldn't have agreed to do it if they'd had a nightmare about it, right?"

"It should be safe now that the artifact has been neutralized." Mr. Valda assured them both, letting out a little weary sigh when he noticed just how little it seemed to have reassured them. "If you'll excuse me, I'm just going to check on the others."

Amy frowned, watching him silently slip out of the office. Then she forced her attention back to the screen in front of her as Artie returned to work, trying to shake the nagging dread. _~There's plenty of fire in a plane crash.~_ A little voice in the back of Amy's mind reminded her. It sounded suspiciously like Koschei. She shoved it forcibly aside, trying to refocus on the task at hand. There wasn't much she could do about the artifact, but she could still help her friends.

* * *

The Doctor knelt down next to the dilapidated outer wall of the abandoned building and touched a vaguely hand-shaped burn on the chipped, blue paint.

"He can toast things with his hands." Claudia noted, shaking her head. "And I thought that _my_ job was weird."

"It was very mild. He was holding back… Bored maybe?" The Doctor considered. "Or he wants to leave a trail."

"It's looking more and more like he wants to be caught." Rory stated unhappily.

"_We're_ following him, too." The Doctor countered, then jumped when Claudia's Farnsworth went off. "Oh, that might be important."

"Yel-lo? Oh, Mr. Valda. Hi." Claudia greeted awkwardly.

"_Is the Doctor there?" Valda prompted._

"Why yes, and here you go." She turned it so that the screen faced said Timelord.

"Hello, Canton. You've got something?" The Doctor inquired, popping up off the ground and taking hold of the device.

"_Lattimer and Bering have acquired the artifact. It wasn't one that's ever come to our attention before, a large diamond. We're not certain of its origin yet, but Pete mentioned it's first being discovered in the UK."_

"A diamond…" The Doctor echoed. "So it's not really a device at all…"

"_It would appear not. Who knows, maybe it was part of something larger."_

"Ah, a temporal energetic transference."

"_It has been known to happen." Canton confirmed._

"It's possible. I'll consider it, and get back to you." The Doctor told him, already beginning to sort through the possibilities in his mind.

"_You think you might have found him?" Canton guessed._

"We're close, which is good… Troubling, but mostly good."

Canton raised an eyebrow.

"Something's wrong, I'm just not sure what it means yet." The Doctor explained. "He's in trouble."

"_What else is new?" Canton remarked._

"This is." The Doctor said and handed the Farnsworth back to Claudia and turned away towards the singed wall, still deep in thought.

"_And I guess we're done talking now." Canton commented, unbothered by the abrupt dismissal._

"Yeah. Sorry about that." Rory replied, peeking over Claudia's shoulder. "We'll keep in touch."

* * *

"I think I know what he's doing… Well, no I don't, but I think I know what drew them all here, including him!" Amy announced, jumping up out of her chair.

"Why? What did you find?" Artie barked, looking at the screen then up at her.

"The Doctor said that the artifact messes with time. He and Koschei are sensitive to that kind of stuff." Amy explained excitedly. "They experience things differently than we do, the Doctor tried to explain it to me once. He said they can see time. They can feel the movement of the celestial bodies around them and through that they can sense the limitations of their actions… I'm not explaining it very well."

"Okay. That's interesting, if possible." Artie told her, earning an annoyed squint from the excited companion. "That explains why you people came here at such a convenient moment, but I'm not seeing any further connection to this case."

"I know. The Doctor could explain it better. Listen, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that they use it to guide their effect on history. Basically it's like this: time isn't actually a straight line the way we tend to think of it. It's more fluid like a river or something. We experience it in a linear fashion, but it actually flows around and pools, and sometimes this creates these sort of… soft-spots in history. Koschei and the Doctor can feel them and so they know when it's okay to change things."

"You think we're in one of those soft-spots." Valda summarized.

Amy nodded.

"The Doctor didn't mention it."

Amy shrugged. "He seemed like he'd noticed something more than he mentioned after he scanned Claudia." She pointed out. "It's just an idea. I expect there's more to it, but you'd have to ask him."

* * *

The Doctor, Claudia, and Rory were walking back down the road towards town when Claudia's Farnsworth went off again. She stopped walking to answer it. The Doctor glanced back at her fleetingly before some more garish, abstract graffiti caught his eye. It looked like the graffiti they'd found earlier on the alley wall beside the TARDIS and he wandered over to inspect it.

"This again… I've seen this before."

"The same thing was in the alley too." Rory said, coming up beside him. "Well similar, but different. I thought it looked familiar too, but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it."

"Hey Doc! Valda wants to know if there's a soft spot here? You know what he's talking about?" Claudia called to them.

"Yes! But it's artificial, and I'm working on it." He replied, still studying the graffiti.

"What?" Rory asked but the Doctor had already moved on.

"Hmm. It means something…" The Doctor thought aloud. "It _means_ something! I know where he's going!"

"Did you hear that?" Claudia asked Valda. "Yep. We'll meet them… Where're we going , Doc?" She called, running to catch up with the others.

* * *

Koschei walked down the empty road to the point of origin, kneeling down and using a bright red bandana to pick up another piece of noirglass.

"They were defending the nest, two of them, from a predator." Koschei observed standing up, his eyes scanning the area around him more closely. "The pattern seems almost too random, though. Trained assassins aren't this messy, even when caught by surprise. An unseen threat? No." He smiled ever so slightly to himself. A lone figure was stealthily creeping up on him from behind, as he mulled it over. "Not an invisible attacker, but it was someone very big, an unpredictable one, certainly." The assassin raised the gun to point at the back of Koschei's head. "But that's merely an educated guess, so why don't _you_ tell _me_?" He continued, turning to face his attacker, undaunted by the gun aimed right between his eyes.

The gremlin woman clicked off the safety on her gun.

"You've nothing at all to say to that?" Koschei inquired, spreading his hands apart in a submissive gesture. "Another guess then: Your attackers were unpredictable for an unique reason. To put it simply they were uniquely forgettable."

The gremlin woman's eyes switched to inhuman lime-green slits as she almost glared up at him.

"That is not a guess." She hissed. He blinked at her, his eyebrows aching subtly.

"And yet you haven't fired. I'd like to believe that's because you know better. I doubt it. You _can_ tell that there's more to this than you're aware of, which is true. Uncharacteristically clever of you, but you're barking up the wrong tree by grouping me with them -although I suppose I'm not one to judge in my current state." Koschei babbled, pushing her gun way from his face with two fingers and circling her to study her critically. "You're curious."

"It is not often that my prey suddenly hands himself over to me so willingly." She explained. "Especially when he has gained such an advantage."

Koschei gave her a small self-deprecating smile.

"I'm complicated."

The gremlin squinted at him suspiciously, her grip on her gun tightening.

"What is your intention?"

"As you said, I'm surrendering. What's your name?"

"Why?"

"Oh, come on, I'm giving you my head on a silver platter. The least you can do is tell me your name." Koschei persisted.

"Why are you surrendering, Master?"

"I'd assume so that you can kill me. I don't go by that name anymore. The others call me Koschei, and you are?"

"Your explanation makes no sense. Why welcome your death?"

"I'm complicated."

"Stop saying that." The gremlin snapped in open annoyance.

"Your name?"

"Grehl."

"Nice to meet you. I'd forgo the extra work but I can't manage it by myself any longer." Koschei told her, then added out of the corner of his mouth in mock embarrassment. "Don't tell a soul."

"To borrow a human phrase: 'You've lost it.'" The assassin observed, pointing her gun lazily up at him.

"Oh my dear Grehl, I'm fairly certain that I never had it." Koschei responded pleasantly, then his expression fell. "Damn."

"Wha—"

"Drop it!" A forceful female voice ordered.

"It's your own fault really." Koschei reflected. "I gave you plenty of time."

"Shut up." Grehl hissed, and turned her weapon on the others.

"I said drop it!" The curly-haired brunette insisted. "I will shoot you if I have to."

Koschei looked from the unfamiliar agent to Grehl calculatingly. Then he saw the Doctor and Rory jogging up behind the brunette as Grehl squeezed the trigger.

"No." He shouted, and in one lightning-fast movement he'd disarmed the gremlin and flipped her onto the concrete with enough force to knock the wind out of her. The Doctor knelt down next to Rory, who was holding his arm. The Agent lowered her weapon a tad, looking suitably impressed.

"Oh, thanks." The agent told Koschei.

He smirked and clicked his tongue at them, spinning the weapon once before tucking it into his belt. The Doctor's eyes widened.

"No. Master…" The Doctor urged him sternly, looking torn. "Don't—"

Koschei's smirk stretched into a grin and he was off like a shot, streaking away towards the gremlin's nest. The agent startled, but quickly got over it and gave chase. The Doctor moved to follow, but hesitated.

"Myka!" The Doctor shouted, agitated.

"I'm okay. She just winged me." Rory assured the Doctor. "Go."

It didn't take any further convincing than that. The Doctor hurried after the others.

A little further down the street Pete jumped out of the SUV then stumbled back just in time to avoid getting knocked down by the fleeing Timelord.

"Whoa! Whoa!" He exclaimed catching himself against the car door. "Holy crap, that guy's fast!"

"We can't lose him!" Claudia announced and rushed away across the street.

"Okay, I—Wait! Claude, where are you going?" He called when she ran in a seemingly random direction instead. She didn't bother to answer.

Myka had almost caught up to Koschei as they neared the abandoned factory. However she lost a bit of ground when he leapt up and somersaulted over the roof of the delivery truck ahead of them instead of taking the long way round. She felt slightly intimidated when he didn't halt in the slightest upon landing, still going at top speed as if the laws of physics had decided to cut him some slack today.

The Doctor pulled in front of her, less swayed by the sight, but when they reached the curb Rory's shout from behind them startled them into an abrupt stop.

"No, don't go any farther!" He warned. The Doctor skidded to a stop at the edge of the dusty parking lot. Pete stumbled to a halt, catching himself on her arm as she looked questioningly back at Rory.

"What? Why?" Pete panted.

"You said there was a dangerously-potent perception filter covering this place…" Rory explained. The Doctor straightened, reaching into his pocket for his sonic.

"Yes. So? It isn't doing anything." Myka replied, confused.

"Exactly." The Doctor said, looking suspiciously back towards the opening that Koschei had ducked through seconds ago. "Doesn't make sense. Which means it's a tra—"

He was interrupted by a fiery explosion that left the building behind him in ruins and threw them all a good ten feet away into the road, or in Rory's case, the bushes. Small mercies…

A few minutes later Rory opened his eyes, the pinprick blue lights vanishing behind the guise of human corneas. He sat up and carefully extricated himself from the crushed flower bushes.

"D-**ddd**-" He cleared his throat and punched his chest absently when his voice box malfunctioned. "D-Doctor? Agent Lattimer? Is every one alright?"

Pete let out a groan and rolled onto his side, pausing with a pained wince to pull a shard of shrapnel out of his fore arm.

"You aren't supposed to do that yourself." Rory told him

"Unghh." Yeah, whatever. Point is I'm still here." Pete responded roughly, then crawled over to check the Doctor's pulse. "He's alive to. Myka?"

"Mmnnnh?" She moaned dazedly, not opening her eyes.

"Phew." Pete acknowledged, as Rory knelt down to check her injuries growing concerned when he noticed that the back of her head was bleeding. Pete winced again. "Oh crap… Has anyone seen Claudia?"

* * *

**A/N:** Sorry this took so long and thanks for reading. Special thanks to Mistydrop for the support. Feedback is always welcome.


	14. Birth of the Ka

**Chapter 9: Birth of the Ka**

Claudia paused at the opening to the old, abandoned factory and grimaced. This was definitely the right place. There was a faint but still fairly nasty chemical smell in the air. She didn't feel at all averse to acknowledging the building's presence though, which was… weird. The Doctor had warned them all about a perception field, or something like that, and he didn't seem like the kind of guy to get it wrong. She sniffed the air just to make sure before reaching out to tug open the rusted metal door.

"Yep, bleach." She confirmed aloud, ducking inside. The inside of the factory was much darker than the sunny coolness outside. It almost felt like nighttime. Claudia blinked a few times, and squinted, her vision still adjusting. Then she jumped at the sight of a tall, slender silhouette crossing in front of her only a few yards ahead of her.

"Holy crap!" She gasped, before darting after the phantom before it could disappear completely behind the dilapidated assembly line. "Hey!" She shouted halfway down the thin walkway, reflexively grabbing her Tesla as she slid to a halt. The stranger stopped and turned to face her.

"Do not be so foolish, Claudia Donovan. We both will burn." It responded in a deep imposing rumble. Claudia gulped.

"Oh joy! It knows my name somehow. That isn't creepy at all." Claudia reflected, not lowering her weapon. The creature tilted its head to one-side, lifting its hand as though considering reaching towards her. "Don't even try it, Poser-Scream. You're working with the bad guys right? What do you want with Apollo Pond?"

The Silence narrowed its eyes, leaning forward ever-so-slightly.

"We have all that we want. You will not prevent us." It taunted, taking a step forward.

"Seriously, stay back. It's a fine line between blowing up and touching you." Claudia threatened. It almost wasn't a bluff. This thing was really freaking her out. The Silence straightened, not bothering to call her on it. "So… prevent you from what?" Claudia prompted lightly.

"It has already begun." The Silence growled. "Silence will fall."

Claudia raised an eyebrow at the strange statement, but before she could inquire further she was distracted by a shuffling sound coming from the entrance. "Who's there?"

Koschei walked over to the end of the aisle, looking a bit winded. He looked from her face to her Tesla and back.

"Problem?" He inquired.

"Huh?" Claudia looked back down the aisle then to the inquisitive alien with a bewildered expression. "I uh… I think there was something there."

Koschei's squinted suspiciously.

"But you can't remember." He added. Claudia nodded and walked up to join him.

"I guess. Hi, I'm Claudia. I saw you die in my dream, and now I found you!"

Koschei raised his eyebrows.

"Awkward." Claudia admitted, following him as he strolled further into the factory. "I mean, I'm trying to prevent it, so…" He froze halfway up the staircase, causing Claudia, who'd been preoccupied with trying to shield her face from the caustic gasses, to bounce off his back. "Ow! Dude! A warning would be nice." Then she saw why he'd stopped. The Silence was standing not two meters away, reaching towards them, or rather, towards Koschei in an oddly expectant way.

"You saw my death." Koschei stated.

"Yeah. Sorry."

"Me too." Koschei replied, reaching into his jacket pocket for something as he continued to stare down the Silence. "You should have seen this coming." He concluded with detachment, pulling out his stolen lighter. Claudia's eyes widened in shock.

"Wait! The chemicals!" She protested, already searching for an escape.

"Exactly." Koschei spat, his stare becoming a venomous glare. Claudia spotted the break in the paneling behind her left shoulder in the split second before he lit the lighter and tossed it towards the nest. She grabbed him round the middle and rammed them as hard as possible into the faulty panel just in time to avoid being incinerated. The blast threw them quite a few meters to land on a pile of rotting cardboard and old wood. Claudia had just enough time to note that it had sprouted a shrubbery to her right before passing out.

* * *

Koschei woke with a start and pushed himself up off of the unconscious teenager that he'd unintentionally shielded. _~Not quite Koschei…~ _He thought blearily._ ~I'm me, but I'm not. I never was.~ He shook his head, trying to get his mind straight. He's not fighting back anymore. No more puppeteer.~ _He smiled and stood up, checking himself for damage. There was nothing too terribly dire, but… He reached up to wipe at the wet warmth on his forehead._ ~Ah. Well that explains that. Really is just me then.~_

He bent down and brushed a few red and blue strands of hair out of the way and checked to make sure that the girl's pulse was strong. Then he wandered over to another junk heap to weigh his options. It would be a shame if anything happened to her. After all, he did owe her a debt for stopping the other one. 'Koschei' frowned to himself. This was proving to be a bit of a conundrum. He knew who he was supposed to be. He remembered being him. He was also rather certain now that he wasn't.

* * *

"Master!" The Doctor exclaimed, jolting upright on the couch as he awoke. Amy jumped up from her seat at Claudia's desk and moved to sit beside him.

"Easy, Doctor. You've been through an explosion."

"I remember. He was inside—" The Doctor broke off as he finally took in his surroundings.

"I'm sorry, Doc." Canton told him solemnly.

"They could have made it out though, yeah?" Amy prompted. "He's gotten out of worse." She insisted, stubbornly ignoring the way the Doctor's expression fell.

"Can you sense him?" Rory asked from his seat at the table across from Artie. He was pretty sure that he already knew the answer from the look on the Doctor's face, but he was hoping that he was wrong.

"Sense him?" Artie echoed, but no one bothered to answer. The Doctor shook his head mutely, not willing to look anyone in the eye.

"He can't be dead!" Amy denied. "He's been missing before—Hell, he's _died_ before! We just have to find him."

The Doctor didn't respond for a long time. Just when Amy was heading back over to the desk to continue her search, he broke the tense silence.

"You said 'they'."

"Sorry?" Amy said, turning back around.

"You said 'they could have made it out'. Who else is missing?" The Doctor clarified.

"Claudia ran off while we were chasing after your partner. No one's seen her since." Artie informed him in a somewhat accusing tone. The Doctor's eyes narrowed and started scanning as he began to piece things together in his head.

"Car crash…" He muttered to himself absently. "They die in a car crash—But no, he's gone. No. I'm missing something. Something obvious."

"Oh good, he's doing that again. We're probably fine." Rory observed.

"You said history could change here." Canton reminded him. "Anything could hap—"

"That's it! Brilliant! Well no, you've got it completely wrong, but in a helpful way." The Doctor suddenly shouted victoriously. "Still showed me what I was missing. So, not bad…"

"Doctor! Explain, please." Amy cut in impatiently. Canton tried not to look affronted

"Right, sorry. Tell me, who has the artifact?" The Doctor inquired, looking around expectantly. Amy crossed her arms over her chest. The others all looked at Rory. They hadn't had the chance to deal with it yet, and he'd been deemed the safest courier once they had all joined up to find Koschei.

"I do." Rory admitted, already reaching for his pocket.

"You sure?" The Doctor said, and smiled, seeing Rory reach into his pocket, frown and quickly pat himself down with a perplexed expression. "I thought so."

"You've lost it?!" Artie snapped. Canton was less upset, regarding the Doctor with interest.

"She has it, or she will do." The Doctor concluded. "Jyun was quite the pickpocket. I doubt that Koschei even would have hesitated to lift it once he figured out what it was."

"You know what the artifact is." Canton observed.

"Of course he does." Rory complained.

"I wasn't sure until I saw it… Recognized it immediately, wasn't difficult for me to put the rest together. I doubt that he'd be any different." The Doctor explained. "We were both there when it was charged. It's the last white point star, the one from the device that the Master used to pull Gallifrey out of the Timelock. –Although, I don't know how it got all they way from Naismith Mansion to Seattle, but that doesn't matter.- It doesn't _cause_ deaths at all. It saves lives. If I'm right, Claudia's dream was just a temporal experience she'll cause when she jumps time tracks."

The others frowned at his strange wording.

"Temporal displacement." The Doctor lamented. "It always wreaks havoc on grammatical tenses."

"So he_ is _still alive." Artie said, looking from the Doctor to Valda.

"Should be." The Doctor replied noncommittally, then scowled in confusion. "He should be. But if he is I should sense him. Why don't I sense him?"

"The artifact?" Valda guessed. The Doctor let out a distracted murmur in response beginning to pace.

"Not the artifact, then." Amy surmised. "We can use it to find them though."

"No." The Doctor said disinterestedly.

"Well, shouldn't we at least try?"

"Don't need to find them." The Doctor responded. Amy frowned.

"You're right!" Artie exclaimed. The Doctor nodded without looking up, and he continued. "We can just wait and meet them! We already know where they're going, Claudia told us everything she saw in her premonition. We just need to find the place that matches what she saw."

* * *

Claudia woke up shortly after Koschei. Luckily, his more durable body had shielded her from the worst of the blast. _~Wait. Where'd he go? Didn't he land on me?~ _She thought to herself, jolting upright and looking around for him.

"Ah. So you're fine." The object of her search concluded from atop another pile of wood and discarded scrap-metal a couple meters away. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his torn up, and now-noticeably-more-singed jeans jacket, and hopped off the pile to rejoin her.

"I think so. No worries."

"I wasn't." Koschei returned truthfully. "What does the Warehouse want with me?" Claudia frowned.

"How did you know that I was with the—Hey!" Claudia protested when he held up her wallet, presenting her with her own badge.

"Yes, yes. Junior Agent Claudia Donovan, you're with Warehouse 13. Also, your library card's expired."

Claudia snatched her wallet away from him and double-checked to be sure that all her cash was present and accounted for.

"As if I would bother." Koschei scoffed. Claudia stood up and pocketed the wallet.

"Your head's bleeding." She informed him coolly, then straightened, becoming more concerned than annoyed. "Wow, you're bleeding a lot! Here, let me look at that." She moved forward, grabbing his chin but he pushed her arm away.

"I'd rather not." He told her and took a step back. "Regardless, I need to go."

"Where're we going?"

"What do you mean 'we', Agent?"

"Claudia." Claudia corrected. "I saw you die, remember? I'm not letting you out of my sight until I'm sure that we've stopped it."

He studied her for a long moment, obviously considering whether or not he should attempt to ditch her and how. Then he relaxed and let out a loud sigh, turning to walk back towards the road.

"Fine. Keep up." He decided without looking back at her. She jogged after him, pausing for a second to stare curiously down at a trail of his foot prints across her path. ~_He went out front once before…~ _She realized, taking note of the kicked up dust where he'd hastily covered part of the trail. _~And he doesn't want me to know. Crap! He walks fast!~_

"Hey wait up!" She shouted running after him.

"No." He called back grumpily. When they reached the front lot, it was clear that the others had left without them.

"Ouch. They really just skedaddled?" Claudia questioned, disbelieving.

"One Agent was injured. They did a token search while you were out but they didn't check where we landed." Koschei informed her. "We need a car."

"Wait. You saw them looking for us and you didn't do anything?!" Claudia objected. "What's wrong with you?!"

"Nothing at all. You weren't in need of medical attention. You wanted to save me, did you not?"

"Yes. I did." Claudia confirmed, stressing the word 'did'. Koschei smirked ever-so-slightly at that.

"I imagine you would have to be present to do so, and I wasn't interested in being found." Koschei replied. "He hasn't moved the TARDIS, has he?"

"The what now?"

"The TA—The big blue box. Is it still parked in the alley?" Koschei persisted impatiently. Claudia narrowed her eyes at him, becoming more and more suspicious.

"I think so…"

"Good. Let's go I need to change clothes. You can, too, if you like. I'm sure she must have something in your size." He said, starting off down the road, back towards town. "Come along. You know I won't wait up for you." He called after Claudia had just stood there staring for a bit too long, and she hurried after him, cursing at him under her breath.

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, this is another weird one. I tried, I really did. I was originally planning to finish off the episode in this chapter, but this has been a tough week for me so this happened instead. I'll try to have the next one finished off more promptly but things are happening so i make no promises about the day. Anyway, thanks for reading this, and special thanks to Mistydrop for reviewing. Any thoughts?


	15. Closing the Loop

**Chapter 10: ****Closing the Loop**

"Wow. It's—" Claudia began, only for her awed observation to be cut short by her alien charge.

"Bigger on the inside, yes, yes. You all say that. It's transdimensional physics, and therefore, far beyond your comprehension, but we are on a schedule here." Koschei interrupted, herding her towards the staircase on their left. "Down the hall, three doors or so, on your right."

"Um, three doors or…" Claudia repeated with a quizzical expression.

"She likes to reshuffle things on occasion. It should be enough to go on, I'd think. It's a big room full of clothing, hard to miss. The door will be wide open. Now go."

"Okay, Bossy. I'm going, jeez." Claudia replied and jogged away to find the room in question. Koschei rolled his eyes and moved over to the console. He tilted one of the nearest screens to face him and checked the external feed.

"Nothing so far… Proximity alerts?" He touched a couple of the Gallifreyan symbols, drifting over the display, and the requested scan appeared, revealing three non-human signatures. "Distance?" He reached for the controls, but the display changed without any further prompting. He raised an eyebrow at the screen, but made no comment on the TARDIS' unusual behavior.

"Hmm, it's manageable." Then a thought occurred to him and he straightened his posture, looking meaningfully up at the drive-pillar as he asked. "You're still monitoring me closely, aren't you?"

The screen turned off and on again, this time showing him a live feed of himself in response. He eyed the drive pillar thoughtfully, before taking a deep breath and leaning forward over the panel once more.

"Good. I want you to continue." He decided, flipping the switch on the left of the screen and turning the dial to his right. "Record your observations and extrapolate from there." He felt the TARDIS' wordless question in his mind. "Oh, you'll figure it out. I'm still going to lock the stream though… Because this is private."

"Who are you talking to?" Claudia asked. She had stopped halfway down the stairs to watch him. Not to be nosy or anything. She'd just thought he was acting weird.

"The ship." Koschei responded a little too loudly, as he flipped the last switch and turned to face her. "It's nothing important. I was checking on something. I'll just go ahead and get changed now and then we'll be off." He announced, hurrying past her up the stairs and ducking into his room.

"Well, that was suspicious." Claudia noted to herself turning back to stare after him, then simply shrugged and went downstairs to flop down sideways in the chair beside the console.

* * *

"No-. No-. The run-down street sign was _behind_ her when she knelt down to look in the driver's side. They were on an abandoned road with a large dilapidated building on the other side- and are you paying any attention to this Dr. Smith?" Artie grumbled, not looking up from the computer screen where they were all huddled, apart from Rory and the pacing Doctor.

"No-yes, sorry, I need a minute. Do go on without me. I'll catch up." The Doctor excused himself and left the office, apparently wanting to take a break on the balcony that overlooked the warehouse. Artie glared after him, itching to chase after him, but he knew they had to pinpoint the right location before the car crash actually occurred. H.G. watched the Doctor's silhouette move past the window before rising from her seat at the periphery of the group and silently slipping out of the room to follow after him. Just as she'd suspected he wasn't really planning to lounge on the balcony. Instead he led her into down into the aisles of the warehouse. He was walking purposefully through the storage area with a specific destination in mind. _~The Doctor must've hacked into the storage archives while we were out of the room.~_

He made another brisk turn at the end of an aisle. She hastened around the corner after him… and nearly walked right into him.

"Did you need something, Agent Wells?" The Doctor asked. He was standing in wait for her with his arms crossed, leaning almost casually against the shelf to his right.

"You're after an artifact, aren't you? The location search is just a distraction." H.G. replied more confidently than she felt.

"Is it. What makes you say that?" The Doctor wasn't really asking, she could tell that much from his tone. He was testing her.

"You can't change what you've already seen: cause and effect. That's what you and 'Apollo Pond' do. You can see what can and can't be changed. You must know that car crash is going to happen no matter what we do. I'd bet you've already determined where and when, but you're keeping us in the dark about it while you try to find a way to bend the rules."

"Could you blame me if I did?" The Doctor questioned still studying her intently.

"Not at all, Doctor." H.G. admitted with a sad smile. "I'd be a hypocrite if I did. But it doesn't work. You can't break those rules."

"What if I could bend them? Only this once. Just this once, everybody lives." The Doctor said, his eyes shining with an odd sort of melancholy hope. "All you need to do is look the other way for a moment."

H.G. studied him suspiciously. There was no denying that she was tempted, but this situation was painfully familiar.

"You said it yourself, Helena: it's what we do."

* * *

"Not that jacket." Claudia directed when she caught sight of Koschei descending the stairs a few minutes later. He snapped his head up to narrow his eyes at her. "You were wearing it in the premonition. You don't want to get shot do you?"

"So that's what you saw." Koschei remarked, continuing down the stairs. "They didn't kill me for the jacket. I doubt it would make much difference."

"We're trying to change the future right? Well, in the future that we don't want, you're wearing the trash-jacket."

"Trash-jacket?" Koschei asked before the answer dawned on him. "Oh, _that_. It's been cleaned. Regardless, time doesn't work that way, and it is a nice jacket. I wouldn't mind dying in it. My favorite is still safe upstairs."

"Why would that matter?" Claudia asked, following him out of the TARDIS.

"Getting shot tends to ruin one's attire." Koschei supplied, looking around them for something.

"I know but—Never mind. You make less sense than the other guy." Claudia surrendered.

"You're adjusting splendidly." Koschei said, grabbing her shoulder to stop her when they reached the mouth of the alley. "We're surrounded."

Claudia looked around. There was a familiar, morbidly pale look to the old man sitting on the hood of his dusty, red Chevy across the street. The paper that he was 'reading' was three days out of date. She didn't spot any other possible gremlins though, unless the unnecessarily helmeted biker who was walking towards them down the street was one too.

"Two suspicious looking guys do not make us surrounded." Claudia disagreed. "Although I admit the head to toe leather seems… toasty for this weather."

"Three." Koschei corrected, looking past her to the other end of the street. She followed his gaze to another over-dressed, leather-clad biker who was walking towards them from where he must've only just finished parking his motorcycle.

"Alright, I'll bite. What's with the helmets?" Claudia remarked, trying to keep her tone light, and avoid more accdental rhyming, as she moved a tad closer to Koschei. "…and the gloves. …and the full body coverage."

"It isn't a helmet. They're slabs." Koschei told her, grabbing her arm. "Time to go." He broke into a run towards the cycle-less slab. It widened its stance, preparing for a confrontation.

"And slabs are?" Claudia prompted nervously.

"Not your problem. Go!" Koschei replied, shoving her past him down the road as he broke off to intercept the closest slab.

"What? Wait! Apollo!" Claudia protested, stumbling to a stop a few yards ahead. Koschei grumbled in annoyance.

"They always want to argue." He complained to the slab. It lunged forward to grab him and he ducked under its arms to ram it hard in the torso with his shoulder. It only stumbled back a step, despite the force with which he had thrown himself into it. It reached for his face. He caught its wrist in both hands and spun to the side, using his knee to dislocate the elbow-joint. The slab turned its blank, black sphere of a head as if to look at him and stretched its other hand out. He leapt back and out of its reach.

"Apollo!?" Claudia shouted, pulling out her Tesla.

"Why are you still here?" Koschei shot back, his gaze flitting briefly over to the other slab that was now beginning to get a little too close for comfort. He really didn't want to go up against two of them at once. The slab in front of him pulled its arm straight and Claudia gaped at it as its joint sparked for only a second, then the ruptured, smoking leather seemed to melt and heal itself.

"Top of the line. You two must've been rather expensive." Koschei observed with a grimace. "Agent, you need to be gone. Now!"

"It's Claudia." Claudia returned, and shot the closest slab. "And you're coming with me."

Koschei flinched watching the slab sparking and smoking as it fell stiffly to the ground.

"Hey, did I kill it?" Claudia inquired sounding surprised.

"You overloaded it." Koschei amended, stepping over the incapacitated machine with an odd, almost respectful air. "It'll reboot in a couple of minutes.

"Great. Let's continue to escape then. Come on!" Claudia prompted, grabbing the sleeve of his jacket and dragging him into an all out run towards the destroyed shop/crime-scene.

They ducked into another alley two blocks away and leaned back against the brick wall to catch their breath.

"How much charge do you have left?" Koschei asked, brushing a few damp curls out of his face as he looked down at Claudia's weapon of choice.

"Uhm…" She looked at the indicator on the side of the barrel. "Crap."

"Bad news?"

"I may or may not have only a single shot left." She admitted.

"We'll have to save it then."

"Yeah right. The Terminator motorcycle gang might have other plans."

"Terminator?"

"You know, James Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger. 'Ahl be Bahck.'" Claudia tried. Koschei just continued to look blank. "Dude! You have been _so_ deprived. If we do both survive this we are having a serious movie night."

"I'll keep that in mind." Koschei acknowledged drily, looking contemplatively at something over her shoulder.

"What…" Claudia followed his gaze to an eerily familiar, black SUV. "No. Apollo, no. We are _not_ stealing that."

"Yes, I am." Koschei disagreed and jogged over to carelessly smash the driver's side window.

"N—" Claudia broke off when one of the slabs entered their alley. "Ah, fuck it! Wait up!" She ran over and jumped in the passenger's side the second he'd unlocked her door.

* * *

"You know where they'll be." Canton echoed, eying the Doctor's expression intently.

"Yep."

"How?" Pete queried, popping up from seat on the edge of circular worktable.

"I'm me." The Doctor answered, not removing his gaze from the Regent's face. "We need to head them off, find someplace we can meet up with them on their way to the crash site."

"Where?" Amy said.

"That's a good question. We don't know what route they'll take." Artie put in. "We'd need to know their current location even to begin to guess."

"We can't predict that, but I think the TARDIS can."

"Your blue box." Artie stated flatly.

"Yes."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Pete said, earning a glare from his grumpy boss.

"Fine." Canton agreed, holding up a hand to stop his subordinates when they began to leave. "Wait. Agent Lattimer, you and I will accompany the Doctor. Agent Wells and…" He paused briefly to look askance at the Doctor. "Rory, remain here and assist Agent Nielsen."  
Rory groaned, but plopped back down in his seat anyway.

"Yes, Sir." H.G. complied more gracefully.

* * *

It took about fifteen minutes to lose the slabs. Claudia had finally gotten over the shock after twenty. Watching a pursuing slab get thrown onto and impaled-by a broken parking meter only to reboot and be ruthlessly beheaded by the gremlin who was also chasing her was a bit beyond her comfort zone. She looked up from her folded arms to see that Koschei had parked them at an old, grimy gas station at some point.

"Oh good. You're better." Koschei said upon his return from the convenience store. He tossed her a bottle of cola. "Drink this. It'll help."

"Caffeine?"

"No, sugar. Drink." He ordered, and this time she did. He nodded and looked away.

"Thanks." Claudia told him politely, giving the standoffish alien an awkward smile.

"Don't." He replied, then jumped out of the car, having caught sight of something outside her line of vision.

"Hey!"

"The Doctor's here." Koschei called back and jogged away. Claudia groaned in frustration and shoved her door open. _~He's always slipping out of sight. Doesn't he get that I'm trying to save his life?~_

She set her cola down on the seat and slammed the door behind her, running after him. Then she stopped and let out a frustrated huff at the sudden head rush the action caused.

"Fine!" She snapped at no one in particular and hastily retrieved the soda.

* * *

"Oh, hello again." Amy greeted when she noticed Claudia jogging towards her at the storefront.

"Hey. Where'd he go?" Claudia replied. Amy gestured toward the far end of the building and led her around the corner. It seemed the others were having an argument by the TARDIS. It was nothing too major though. If Amy's subtle air of exasperated amusement was anything to go by.

"Yes, I stole the artifact!" Koschei snapped impatiently. "I needed it." He added, looking from the Doctor to Mr. Valda with a slightly defensive expression.

"Wh-Needed it?" Pete echoed from his place by the TARDIS doors. "Needed it for what? You do know what that thing does, right? I mean…"

Koschei simply continued to behave as if Agent Pete Lattimer didn't exist.

"It's a white point star, _the_ white point star." Koschei continued, locking eyes with the Doctor. "We made it what it is."

"Did he just blank me?" Pete protested. "He totally blanked me! That is so rude!"

Valda looked back over his shoulder to spare the insulted Agent a fleeting glance before returning his attention to the two Timelords.

"Yes, I remember. We still have to end this." The Doctor affirmed.

"I'm not handing it over yet." Koschei informed Mr. Valda. He had taken on the manner of a Commander addressing one of his subordinates, but to both Claudia and Pete's surprise, the Regent didn't seem to mind.

"Master-" The Doctor began.

"Ooh, he's using the title again. I really am in trouble." Koschei remarked playfully to Mr. Valda. The Regent tried not to smile.

"_Master_, you knew that the gremlins were coming after you." The Doctor restated.

"I knew that _someone_ was, yes."

"You knew they'd be here."

"Any other thoughts of mine that you'd like to recite back to me?"

"Why?"

"I don't know. You're the one doing it." Koschei hedged.

The Doctor looked unimpressed.

"I was feeling a bit destructive. Don't worry; I'm in a different mood now. There's only one gremlin left alive, as far as I can tell. There were two slabs as well, one of which has been brutally deactivated." Valda raised an eyebrow and Koschei rolled his eyes. "Not by me. Regardless, they shouldn't be much of a problem."

The Doctor nodded. "They're professionals. They'll know to cut their losses."

"If these gremlins are retreating, then what's the problem?" Pete inquired.

"Slabs don't retreat." The Doctor explained. "They're robots. They're programmed to complete the objective they've been given without any conscience or concern for their own well-being. They'll keep coming until either Koschei is dead or they're destroyed."

"Well… that sucks." Pete noted. Koschei let out a little huff, gracing Valda with a sarcastic, half-lidded gaze, as though blaming him for the annoying agent's existence.

"There's only one of them left." Valda pointed out. "We just need to capture and deactivate it."

"No!" Claudia realized with a start. They all turned to look at her. "There were only two humans in my premonition. Every one else was covered up. Or at least I thought they were covered up."

"More slabs." Amy said darkly.

"How many?" Koschei asked businesslike.

"Three… I think."

Koschei and the Doctor exchanged a look.

"That's is easy!" The Doctor said. "I can handle three."

"We've got a plan then?" Valda prompted.

" 'Course I do." The Doctor said confidently, as Koschei turned back towards Claudia, intending to head back to their stolen SUV. "Ah. No." The Doctor corrected, grabbing his arm.

"Doc—Ooof!" Koschei began then froze with his arms held out at his sides uncertainly after the Doctor spun him round into a bear hug. He honestly wasn't sure what to do. He was fairly certain that he wasn't the hugging type, but the Doctor and Amy were different than the others._ ~Are they an exception to the rule? Why don't I just know that?~ _He was once again uncomfortably aware of the feeling of being foreign to his own life. That shouldn't happen. He knew that. Valda looked unsurprised by the display, while his two underlings looked a tad uncomfortable.

"I thought you'd died." The Doctor murmured into his shoulder. "I get a hug."

_~Well that answers that question.~ _Koschei reluctantly obliged the other Timelord.

"That's better." The Doctor said. Then ruined the moment by pressing his face into Koschei's collar and thoroughly sniffing him, prompting what Koschei felt was an entirely justified warning-growl.

"_Dude_." Pete muttered. Amy snorted.

"We'll just give you two a moment…" Canton said, failing to hide his amusement. Koschei glared and shoved the Doctor away while the others retreated.

"What was that?!"

The Doctor cleared his throat and straightened his lapels, unfazed by his friend's ire. "Good, now they're gone." He tossed something dark and vaguely metallic to Koschei.

"What's this?"

"They were Jack's. Hold onto them. I've got a plan." The Doctor instructed, ignoring the way that Koschei's eyes narrowed at the mention of the Doctor's immortal companion.

"You know what has to happen, Doctor." Koschei reminded him. "You can hide it from the others but we both know-"

"Yes!" The Doctor cut in loudly, then visibly calmed himself. "Just hold onto those. They'll help." Adding in response to Koschei's questioning expression. "Trust me."

Koschei studied his face for a moment before relaxing and turning back towards the storefront. The Doctor took a bit longer than usual to follow, watching the other man's retreating back with a serious expression, deep in thought.

* * *

"Apollo." Claudia acknowledged as the Timelord strode by, rising from her perch on the SUV's front bumper. "Wait, no. Aren't we going with them?" She queried nervously when he opened the passenger door.

"No. You seem quite fond of that word yourself. We're taking this back to town, then meeting back up with the others."

"Why?"

"It's part of the plan. Come on, it's your turn to drive."

"But I was driving when you died!"

"I understand your reluctance, but let's be honest now, shall we, Agent Donovan?" Koschei returned rapid-fire. "It isn't me dying that you're so afraid of. It's us dying."

Claudia stared at him with her mouth hanging open and her dark eyes blazing. "I thought so." Koschei concluded, beginning to get in the car, only to step back when Claudia ran over and slammed his door shut.

"That's it!" She snapped. "Let's get one thing straight, Agent Pond. You don't know me. You may be the most detached, self-centered and ridiculously patronizing smart-ass that this world has ever seen, but that does not give you the right to judge me. Whether or not you are capable of understanding it, I am trying to save your life—"

"Why?"

"Because, it's the right thing to do."

"You hate me." Koschei pointed out, leaning a little closer. Claudia stared stubbornly up into his cold grey eyes, unwilling to show how intimidating it was.

"So far you're definitely in the running for Douche of the Universe, but I don't hate you, and I don't want you dead." She disagreed. He narrowed his eyes and backed off a bit. "If anyone asked me, I'd say you were scared." She finished, holding out the car keys that he'd slipped into her pocket. He scoffed, but she could tell by the look in his eyes that she'd hit close to home.

"You're still driving." He stated. "We need to follow the Doctor's plan if we're going to pull this off, regardless of what you've seen." After a brief hesitation, Claudia slipped into the driver's seat and started the car.

"How'd you get the keys?" She asked, trying to spur a more pleasant conversation.

"The Doctor." Koschei responded simply, staring out the window.

"Okay, and how'd he get them?"

"Magic."

"Bullshit."

"Indeed."

"Fine. Don't tell me." Claudia said, sneaking a peek at him. He was moping. She felt oddly accomplished upon seeing that, then a little guilty. "So how did you really get in on this whole secret agent lifestyle?"

Koschei arched an eyebrow.

"We both know how strict the psych eval. is for this kind of job, and I know that neither one of us is the type to pass it." Claudia elaborated. Koschei's gaze snapped to her face.

"You think that I'm unstable." He stated in a neutral tone.

"I spent a few years in a nut-house. I know a kindred spirit when I see one." Claudia said lightly.

"I'm not insane anymore. Not like I was before." Koschei's mood swung once again and his brow twisted into a frown. "Don't try to bond with me Agent Donovan. It's a wasted effort."

"That what you're afraid of?" Claudia replied patiently. "I know it's hard after… that."

"You don't know anything." Koschei cut in.

"You're going to need to trust someone sooner or later." Claudia persisted, undeterred. "Everyone needs someone. I'm not saying that you need to trust _me_, but you need to relax at some point."

"Like you did." Koschei drawled, turning to look out his window at the beginnings of the sunset. "And then everything became so lovely for you and you found yourself the perfect home."

"Don't mock it 'til you've tried it."

"My home no longer exists." Koschei said. "…If it ever did."

Claudia looked sympathetically over at the somber alien, wondering what the hell had happened to him. Koschei reached out and nudged her side.

"Keep your eyes on the road."

There was a long, drawn-out silence after that, broken by the very event that Claudia had been fearing for the past day.

"Oh shit. Plan failed! Here they—Ah!" Claudia shrieked as the larger vehicle sped up and rammed them. She stamped down on the gas pedal but she already knew how this would end. "Ideas?! Tell me now!"

Koschei was looking at something off to the right up ahead.

"Claudia."

"Fuck! What?" Claudia exclaimed as their attackers swerved around to their side and she found herself struggling to evade them.

"Brace yourself!" Koschei ordered, and then everything became flying glass, and loud crashes and the world around her was tilting over and over again.

When she came to, uncertain of whether or not she'd checked out due to the shock or actually fainted, there were shouts and flashes going on outside, but she couldn't make out what was happening. She looked around, coughing and choking as she struggled free of her seatbelt.

"Apollo? Ow!" Claudia paused only long enough to turn right side up again. "Hey Apollo?! I'm alive! Ap—" She could hardly see anything through all of the smoke. _~Smoke! The engine is smoking. There's no way that is good for me.~_

She reached up to Koschei's seat. The seatbelt-straps were ripped and she cursed when the back of her hand knocked into the sharp edge of a massive hole in the windscreen on its way back down.

"Claudia?" Pete shouted from just outside her window. She should be able to see him more clearly this close up. The smoke was way too thick. "Claudia, answer me! We've gotta get out of here now!"

"Yeah, I'm here." Claudia replied, reaching towards her friend's voice. He grabbed her arms and yanked her out.

"Come on." Pete said, looking over her shoulder at the wreckage as he helped her stand. "Time to run." He dragged her away, down the road towards the others. The engine ignited behind them seconds later. Amy ran over to them from her place at the TARDIS doors.

"Apollo! Where is he?"

"I don't know." Claudia wheezed. Amy shifted her gaze to Pete's grim face.

"I'm sorry there wasn't enough time."

"No." Amy shot back adamantly. It took them all a minute to realize that someone else was missing.

"Where's he going?" Canton asked looking off into the brush. The Doctor had disappeared from sight. Claudia rested her hands on her hips and straightened up to follow her superiors gaze, then scowled and pulled the unexpected lump out of her pocket.

"Okaay… Why do I have the diamond?"  
A singed, somewhat battered redhead popped up out of the shrubs and tall grasses with a smug-looking Doctor grinning beside him.

"You're welcome, Agent." Koschei called in a very rough voice, sending himself into a coughing fit.

"Totally fine." Amy observed dryly.

"And all is right with the Universe." Canton quipped drily.

"You could've found something better." Koschei rasped to the Doctor.

"It saved your life." The Doctor defended.

"Cracking a couple ribs in the process. Was there really no better alternative?" Koschei carped, holding a hand to his side. "You'd think the freak could birth a better defense than that."

"What did you expect, Kos? It's quantum immortality. You knew that we could mend the rest in the TARDIS. You just don't want to owe him one." The Doctor argued. Koschei narrowed his eyes at him petulantly. Mr. Valda, on the other hand, strolled over to them as if they weren't squabbling over semantics like an old married couple, and held out his hand toward Koschei.

"I will never owe that man a thing. What?" Koschei asked the expectant Regent.

"Harkness' binoculars I believe." Valda prompted.

"Feeling impatient, Canton."

"I know you well enough not to take my chances." Canton explained. Koschei sighed and pulled the artifact out of his back pocket.

"How could that possibly have fit?" Pete queried incredulously.

"It just does. They never want to explain it." Amy informed him with a shrug.

"Thank you." Valda said, accepting the device. Koschei rolled his eyes, then looked around at the wreckage.

"You deactivated all the slabs, without me."

"Next time." Valda assured him.

"And the humans?"

"They went all Q on us." Pete piped in, Koschei looked askance at Amy.

"They teleported away when the Doctor started to interrogate them." She supplied helpfully. Everyone looked to the Doctor.

"The Silence."

"Again." Canton said. "It seems we'll need to start reviewing our security measures."

* * *

The Doctor looked up from the console and smiled when he saw Rory lead Canton into the TARDIS.

"Canton!" He called happily, switching off the scanner and turning to lean casually against the console.

"Evening, Doc." Canton greeted with a fleeting smile before looking up at the TARDIS around them. "It's been too long since I last saw her. You know, his place never get's old."

"Speaking of never getting old…" Rory commented, heading up the stairs to take a seat by the Doctor.

"You should talk, Tin Man." Canton returned teasingly. Rory sighed.

"I'm never going to escape that nickname am I?"

Canton shook his head.

"Actually, where is Koschei?" Rory asked, realizing the unusual sense of quiet peace in the TARDIS around them

"He and Amy are at the Bed and Breakfast with a few of our agents, something about an 'Emergency Movie Night'." Canton supplied.

"And you came here?" Rory joked. "They've managed to rope the Master into Movie Night. Inexplicable longevity aside, witnessing his facial expressions alone has got to be a once in a lifetime experience."

"Yes, I've been meaning to bring that up. Here we are after all this time and you haven't aged a day since we met you in 1969. How did that happen?" The Doctor inquired, leaning forward interestedly.

"Your wife brought a camera." Canton informed the biosynth. "As for my longevity… Well that's a whole different story."

"You're not planning to tell it to me." The Doctor responded.

"We'll save it for another time." Canton confirmed. "Besides, if I have your timeline right, I believe you've already got enough on your mind." He added, eying the scanner and looking up to lock eyes with the Timelord. The Doctor stared solemnly back at him until he turned to leave. "It was good to see you again, Doc. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a debriefing to get to."

"What was that about?" Rory asked after the Regent had gone. The Doctor snapped out of his contemplative stupor, returning to the seemingly carefree alien that he was more accustomed to.

"Oh, you know: _spoilers_. I guess that we'll just have to wait and see." The Doctor shuffled around the pillar, fussing with various bits and bobs, wandering right passed a flashing mauve screen. Wait. _Mauve_. He walked backward a few steps and slowly turned to look at the screen. Those readings were familiar, but the message didn't make sense. It couldn't be right.

"Um… Doctor?" Rory called noticing the blank look on his friend's face.

"What!" The Doctor said dazedly.

"Are you alright?"

"_What?"_ The Doctor leaned closer to the screen, fiddling erratically with the buttons down the side. "What."

* * *

**A/N:** Yes, this is late, Yes, this is long. Hear that? That is the sound of forgiveness. On another note, I think this chapter actually broke the record for the longest one I've ever written. At least I'm finally moving on to a new episode. So to those of you willing to comment, **I ask you: To vampire or not to vampire?** I want to, but I don't know... Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review.


	16. Bite the Bullet

**Episode 3: Bite the Bullet**

"_Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation."_

_-Oscar Wilde_

**Chapter One: Trapped in the Darkness**

Lt. Commander Anna Leenan closed the greasy, metal panel beside her and looked up from her crouched position, through the dark steel grating at Lieutenant Zello. The stern Illinean leaned over the station directly above her, monitoring the energy readings from the cold fusion reactor.

"Try it now, Ensign." Leenan ordered, wiping at her sweaty brow with the stained, blue sleeve of her uniform coveralls.

"Yes, Ma'am." The young man behind them replied, giving a nod to Zello as soon as he'd finished. The Lieutenant immediately reacted, punching in the necessary commands. They waited with bated breath as the drive systems powered up. Finally, after a handful of seconds later, which felt like eons to the engineering staff, the console chirped.

"Drive systems are activated." The Lieutenant reported, sounding pleasantly surprised. A few of the ensigns around them let out sighs of relief. "Navigational controls are being released."

Lt. Commander Leenan released the breath that she hadn't even realized she was holding, allowing herself a tentative smile. At almost that very same second, the bright orange indicator lights around the core began to flicker. Then they went completely dark. There was a flurry of movement around the engine room as all personnel present hurried to handle the sudden acceleration of the power drain.

"Report." Leenan barked, swinging out from under the grating and streaking towards the platform steps to check on the engine's status.

"There's an exponential rise in the power drain." Lt. Zello shouted back, his crown feathers ruffling in agitation.

"Can you locate the source?"

Lt. Zello fiddled with the controls in front of him, then shook his dark violet head. "Sorry Ma'am. The readings are still too erratic. I can't lock onto a source."

They both stilled to listen as the engine core began to give off a low, ominous hum. They exchanged a tense look.

"I _really_ don't like the sound of that." Leenan remarked and vaulted over the railing so that she could get to the nearest command console as quickly as possible. It was flashing an ominous mauve by the time she reached it. "Son of a- Lieutenant, shut down the nav. controls. We're going to prepare to initiate an emergency consumption lockdown!"

"Chief! Once we lockdown—" A nearby ensign cried in alarm.

"I know, I know! But if we lose the core, it won't matter how secure we are, we'll all freeze to death long before we can deal with it!" Leenan snapped and stepped to the side to slap the com button on the wall on her left, calling over the chaos. "Engineering to bridge. Do you read me?"

"Acknowledged, Leenan. What's going on down there?" Captain Mara Omarell, the middle-aged Silurian in command of the transport replied.

"Our attempts to counter the power drain have only amplified the distortions. I strongly recommend that we initiate ECL protocols immediately in order to protect the core."

There was a tense pause on the other end of the line.

"Is there any way that we could delay the lockdown just long enough to divert energy to the internal systems without risking engine damage?" The First Officer, Commander Luke Taylor inquired.

Leenan's black ponytail swished back and forth as she shook her head in frustration, knowing that her superiors couldn't actually see it. "No, Sir. I'm sorry, but if we don't lockdown within the next ten minutes we could lose the engines for good."

"Very well. Initiate lockdown." Captain Omarell nearly growled. She hated feeling this helpless.

"Yes, Ma'am. Leenan out." Leenan signed off and hurried to begin the final lockdown.

* * *

"Attention all hands: stand by for a ship-wide systems shutdown. All personnel must now vacate all non-essential decks." Captain Omarell announced over the PA system. "Be advised, we are now on orange alert status." The Captain then looked to her right to the comms officer's station and raised her hand, signaling he should cut the transmission. At his nod she turned to share at tense look with her first officer. The lighting around them flickered out, to be replaced by a much dimmer, red-tinted light.

"Well, that was dramatic." Their uninvited guest commented lightly from where he was lounging in captain's chair. Commander Taylor turned to shoot him a withering look over his shoulder, but he continued on, unaffected. "Still, don't you think that 'orange alert' seems like a bit of an understatement at this point? You could at least _attempt_ to keep your passengers secure."

"There isn't much we can do to locate our unidentified intruder with the internal sensors shut down." Commander Taylor snapped.

"You think it's better to simply ignore the threat?"

"Heightening the alert would only frighten the crew, not to mention our passengers." The Captain pointed out in a much calmer tone. She was not one to be outdone, especially by some mere meddlesome stow away, which is what he had to be. She couldn't see how else he and his compatriots could've gotten onboard.

"They should be frightened." Said stowaway responded reasonably. "They're being eaten alive."

"Our passengers will now be confined to their assigned habitation zones, under careful guard." Captain Omarell informed him. "If you think you have a better idea how to handle the situation then I would be very interested to hear it."

"You could let _me_ have a go." The stowaway offered immediately. "I'll handle the creature for you. Better yet, you could be extra helpful and release my companions from your cells while you're at it, and they could help me solve this even faster. It's what we do after all."

None of the bridge personnel looked at all charmed by the idea so he continued.

"Monitor us all you want, see for yourself that we can be trusted. You don't _have_ to trust us, but it would be in your best interests. After all we did come here to help."

The Captain crossed her arms over her chest, giving him a look that said 'oh, really?'.

"It wasn't our fault you weren't comfortable with our means of travel." He defended.

"You infiltrated our ship." Taylor countered flatly. The intruder smiled, still irritatingly undaunted.

"Yes, you could say that. I'd rather that you didn't, but it's your choice… Look at it this way: we may be strangers but we're willing to help you, no hard feelings. Frankly, your other intruder is proving much more problematic, don't you think? I can honestly say that _I've_ never felt inclined to feast on anyone's blood. Mmm, _vampires,_ should be exciting!"

"Try not to look so pleased." Commander Taylor chastened.

"And how can you be so certain that you can stop this creature?" The Captain asked thoughtfully, ignoring second in command's irritated stare.

"Because I always catch my target, Captain." Darius stated with a wide, winning smile, leaning forward in his seat with his gloved hands clutching regally at the lush, leather armrests as he continued. "As I said before Captain: it's what I do."

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah, I know: it's too short, more of an opening than a chapter really, but I figured I should put something up so you guys knew I didn't ditch. So:extra-super-thanx for reading, and putting up with the lag. I'm trying my best to keep this at a reasonable pace, it's just difficult at present. I hope you guys like this anyway... We'll be back with the usual TARDIS-crew next chapter, hopefully soon.


	17. Vampires Don't Exist

**Chapter Two: Vampires Don't Exist**

"Do we know where we're going this time?" Amy asked as she sat on the stairs beside Rory to watch Koschei watch the Doctor flit maniacally around the console. The Biosynth shrugged, transfixed by the chaos occurring in front them.

"The Doctor saw something… surprising on one of the screens, shortly before you two returned."

"What was it?" Amy asked, smiling at Koschei's stoic annoyance when the TARDIS swerved and knocked the Doctor on top of him. Instead of pulling himself up off of the seated Timelord's lap, the Doctor reached blindly forward, elbowing Koschei in the stomach in the process, and flipped a bronze lever on the closest panel.

"He didn't show it to me." Rory replied, wincing in sympathy at their friend's plight.

"Do you mind, Doctor?!" Koschei snapped, skillfully avoiding a gangly knee to the face.

"Nope, not at—Ooof!" The Doctor said as he was deposited unceremoniously onto the floor by his irritable companion. He blinked a couple of times, then rolled to his feet and resumed flitting about the controls as if nothing at all had occurred.

"Honestly." Koschei commented scathingly, straightening out his cream-colored vest.

"So where are we going?" Amy called to them, not really expecting an answer.

"We picked up a distress call upon entering the Vortex." Koschei shouted back over a somewhat-daunting crash from… somewhere.

"Oh, really, that's… Why didn't you tell us?" Rory inquired, frowning. They all slid to one side as the TARDIS did a bit of a flip. Koschei even had to grab onto the armrests of his chair so as not to be thrown over the railing. Then he turned his gaze pointedly to Rory.

"Didn't want to risk getting out of the chair?" Amy guessed, still clinging to the side of the staircase for dear life. Although unlike Koschei, she was doing her best to be subtle about it.

"Ah, here we go!" The Doctor announced, pulling himself to his feet once again in order to continue. Koschei watched the Doctor's ministrations intently.

"Oh, thank God! I think we're landing." Rory noted at the same time that Koschei said "Dear God! I think we're landing!"

The Doctor wasn't sure whether he should be amused or offended, needless to say, the resultant facial expression was marvelous. He turned the final crank in a vaguely rebellious manner, and with a jarring, metallic thud, the TARDIS dropped unceremoniously onto their destination. There was a moment of tense silence broken by Amy's whispered:

"Oh good, it's over."

Koschei was still glaring accusingly at the Doctor.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't my fault!" The Doctor defended. "Turbulence! Quite a lot of turbulence come to think of it. Wonder why that is…" His next words were cancelled out by the loud, feral growl from Koschei as he abandoned his chair. The Doctor shot him a look. "Don't be that way Kos. It might be interesting! Fun even!"

"Your idea of fun has the tendency to get me killed." Koschei returned, crossing his arms over his chest and reclaiming his seat as an afterthought. The Doctor considered him for a beat, then let out a huff.

"Fine, you stay here and mope. The Ponds and I are having an adventure." He decided, walking past Koschei to peek out the TARDIS doors, then abruptly slammed them shut. "Ah. Spacesuits first! We need spacesuits."

"Why? Where are we?" Amy asked. Rory was already on his way upstairs.

"Looks like a decompressed transit ship from the 40th century. Well… Yes, 40th century." The Doctor rambled. "They should be tucked away in the junk room."

Koschei scoffed but the Doctor skillfully ignored it.

"Which is the junk room?" Rory inquired, poking his head back out into view.

"It's…" The Doctor flailed around a bit and did a little spin as he tried to remember the orientation. "5th door on the left."

"10th room on your right." Koschei immediately countered, catching the Doctor's attention once more. "She switched it around last week. It'll be the blue double-doors."

Rory nodded and ducked back into the hall.

"What were you doing in the junk room?" The Doctor asked, walking over to sit on the edge of the console across from Koschei.

"Salvage." Koschei deadpanned.

"Mmm." The Doctor hummed, having caught perhaps the slightest hint of a challenge flickering in the other man's eyes as he offered his unenlightening response. Koschei watched him silently before deciding to change the subject.

"You know, decompression usually means one of two things for this class of ship: either they're having severe engine trouble, or they're being attacked from within. Considering that you're involved, I'm willing to bet it'll probably be both."

"I know. I'll be careful." The Doctor assured him reflexively, still more focused on other things. Koschei leaned back, lacing his fingers together in front of him, not particularly convinced.

"No, you won't. You're you. I don't recall you _ever_ being careful."

"There was that time we met up on Netrhea Minor during the hunting season." The Doctor reminded him off-handedly. Koschei paused to study his face, looking thoughtful.

"Strange. I don't recall that at all." He finally replied, with the slightest of frowns.

"Oh. Well I guess you're right then." The Doctor said lightly, standing up and brushing past him on his way to join the others upstairs. As soon as his face was out of Koschei's line of sight the smile disappeared. He stole a covert glance back towards the other man before continuing upstairs, making sure to remain apparently unconcerned.

* * *

"So… Do you suppose this is a good sign or a bad one?" Haesha mused from her spot on the bed as she and Thalis watched their leader pace back and forth in front of the large, translucent, titanium window to his quarters. Thalis screwed up his face, considering the question.

"Hmmm… You know, honestly, at this point it could go either way." He replied. "I think the movement helps him think, but that doesn't really speak to the quality of the plan."

"He can hear you." Darius interjected, not looking up from the floor as he continued to pace.

"I should hope so." Thalis replied unrepentantly. "It's not like we were whispering."

Darius shot him a scathing look. Thalis blinked innocently up at him.

"Why us?" Haesha asked abruptly. The other two Collectors frowned at her, so she clarified. "You were allowed to choose only two of us to assist you on this hunt. Why did you choose us? We're not exactly the most experienced hunters on the team."

"I trust you." Darius answered simply. Thalis opened his mouth to ask a question of his own, but was interrupted by blaring klaxons.

"_Intruder alert, in Cargo Bay 2."_ The system warned over and over. Thalis and Darius caught each other's eye and Darius smirked.

"You don't think…" Thalis said. Darius' smirk grew.

"Think what?" Haesha queried, confused by her superiors' sudden mood swing.

"Who else could it be?"

"I don't know but—Darius, to say that the odds are highly against it would be a huge understatement." Thalis pointed out, leaping to his feet as Darius headed for the door.

"The odds of what?" Haesha tried again. Darius turned to face Thalis in the doorway.

"I'll bet you 50 credits that you're wrong." He challenged. Thalis squinted down at him for a beat.

"Done."

Darius smiled.

"Wonderful. Let's go see that I'm right. Oh, and watch out for vampires."

Thalis rolled his eyes. "I don't care what that paranoid little human said. Vampires do _not _exist." He stated firmly. Haesha nodded in agreement, her pigtails bouncing around her head.

"I wouldn't be too certain." Darius remarked. "Strange and impossible things tend to follow that man everywhere."

"Okay guys, seriously, who is he?"

Haesha's two teammates walked onward, continuing to ignore her questioning and she let out a little huff, jogging a bit to keep up. She paused, frowning when she thought she heard something on the other side of the painted yellow door to their neighbor's quarters: movement, then something more animalistic, like a growl perhaps? She looked after the others but they remained oblivious.

They unsealed the emergency door and hit the buttons on their collar, prompting the black, fluid-like ceramic material to flow up and around their heads, becoming spherical, reflective black helmets. _~Maybe I should just go ahead…~ _She thought watching the force-field ripple bright mauve around the others like the surface of a pond being disturbed as they stepped through it into the depressurized area. Maybe she'd imagined that sound. There was another shuffling sound. Haesha hesitated before letting out a sigh and walking back over to the door.

"Hello?" She called, knocking politely on the metal barrier. "Is everything alright in there?"

There was no response, but she heard a soft rustling on the other side.

"Excuse me? …I thought I heard something strange." Haesha started to explain. There was a soft 'clunk' as the bolt shifted and the indicator light in front of her turned from red to green to show the door was unsealed. Haesha raised her eyebrows at the indicator finding the nonverbal response rather strange. "Alright then." She remarked lightly before shrugging and calling. "I'll take that as an invitation."

Haesha threw the lever to her right and the door rolled open to reveal a gruesome sight. It was silent and still inside. The contents, or rather, the remains inside were a disconcerting sight, but never the less unsurprising. Haesha stepped inside searching the room for any threats before walking over to the comm. panel.

"Haesha to Cargo Bay 2." She indicated and waited for the response.

"Haesha, Report." Thalis' voice responded sounding a bit perplexed.

"We've got another one, exsanguinated just like the others, bite mark on the neck. No signs of the target, but I still think you might want to get up here."

* * *

**A/N:** Okay guys, this turned out to be another short one. Sorry, just kinda busy. I'll attempt to make the other one longer. Well anyway, thanks for reading this guys. Please review?


	18. Good Manners

**Chapter Three: Good Manners**

Haesha stared at the three red-suited strangers who'd arrived in the doorway. Two of them seemed to be terrans; the third was… something else.

"Hello!" The strange alien with the blue bowtie greeted her happily. "You must be Haesha."

"Er…" Haesha faltered, then got a hold of herself to add, "Excuse me. Yes, that's me. It's nice to meet you Mr…"

"Oh, I like this one, good manners!" The Doctor announced obliviously, flitting past her to begin scanning the body on the floor with his sonic-screwdriver

"_Doctor."_ Amy sighed and shifted her helmet from her right arm to her left as Darius and Thalis joined them. "Sorry about him. He gets a bit excited. Amy Pond, by the way," She introduced herself, holding out a hand for the young engineer to shake. "We've actually met once before, but—"

"Yes, yes, and the Biosynth's her fiancé Rory." Darius dismissed impatiently, disengaging his helmet so that it melted away into the collar of his jumpsuit.

"We're married now." Rory corrected.

Darius eyed him impassively for a second, then looked to Haesha. "Report."

Thalis patted Rory's shoulder awkwardly, disengaging his own helmet.

"Yes, Sir." Haesha acknowledged. "I thought I heard a struggle inside here when we passed by. It wasn't much; the victim was most likely pinned before we reached the door. It was nothing that I could be certain of, so I tried to get an answer first."

"Very polite." The Doctor murmured, continuing to check over the victim's remains for any clues.

"There was no response at first, then someone disengaged the security-seal from the inside and I came in." Haesha explained as if uninterrupted. "She was already dead and the target was gone without a trace."

"Well, other than that." Thalis remarked, indicating the dead human on the floor with a nudge of his booted foot.

The Doctor looked up at him disapprovingly. "Her."

""What?" Haesha questioned.

"Other than _her_. She was a person; you should try and remember that." The Doctor clarified, still looking up at Thalis. The Collector blinked down at him guiltily, but Darius slapped his arm and waved him toward the comm. panel, clearly unimpressed by the Doctor's words.

"You can feel however you like, Doctor, but that doesn't help us catch her killer." He countered, shifting his full attention to his subordinates. "Call it in, would you?" He directed Thalis, and tossed a phone-sized, crystalline device to Haesha. "Check the vents. The target has to have slipped out of here somehow."

"How long has this been going on?" The Doctor inquired, standing to face Darius.

"The Deaths onboard have been occurring over three days, but the malfunctions that the S.S. Labyrinth has been experiencing started a week ago." Darius explained, watching the Doctor pocket his sonic. "Did you find anything interesting?"

The Doctor shrugged. "Maybe. Don't know yet. Haesha was right. The cause of death was exsanguination, caused by bites to the jugular vein and femoral artery."

"You mean, like a vampire?" Darius asked innocently—well, for him.

"It would appear so, yes." The Doctor confirmed.

"A vampire! Vampires are real?" Amy interjected, sounding excited.

Darius and Thalis shot each other expressions of smugness and aggravation respectively.

"Yes, it is very much _like_ a vampire." The Doctor mused. "Of course, it can't possibly be a real vampire that we're looking for."

"Told you they don't exist." Thalis stated victoriously to his friend and leader.

Darius crossed his arms over his chest, and shot him a look.

"Actually, they do." Rory corrected from the doorway where he'd been lingering more or less overlooked until now.

The two male Collectors turned to stare at him and he shrugged, purposefully flashing his visual sensors as a subtle reminder of his true origin.

"They're in the archive." He stated with a casual half-shrug.

"But it still can't be one of them." The Doctor clarified as he began to wander randomly about the room, stopping to poke at the drab-green comforter on the bed. "They escaped into e-space millennia ago, and I'm pretty sure they've gone extinct."

"_Bvorkh_." Thalis swore.

"You know it counts." Haesha told him, stepping down from her perch on the back of the built-in lavender couch. "Scans are complete, and still not much use, I'm afraid. Just some more sodium deposits, nothing conclusive."

"Sodium." The Doctor pondered aloud. "Interesting."

"Why's that interesting?" Darius inquired, raising an eyebrow and almost forgetting to take the credit chip that Thalis slapped begrudgingly into his hand when the Doctor's back was turned.

"Don't know yet." The Doctor replied and wandered out of the room. Darius watched him drift away with a bemused expression.

"Alright then."

The brief silence that followed was broken when something started making repetitive, angry-cat noises and everybody in the room turned, as one, to look at Rory.

"Excuse me. Sorry." He apologized and answered his phone without bothering to look at the screen. "Yes, Koschei?"

In the background, Thalis did a slight nod as though Rory had just resolved an unspoken question.

"**What's happened? I'm bored."**

"Oh, the usual: a series of mysterious deaths, probably not caused by vampires." Rory casually informed the Timelord, leaning against the doorjamb.

"_**Vampires,**_** really?"** **Koschei echoed, sounding almost interested.**

"The Doctor says that they've gone extinct… well, probably." Rory relayed.

"**You said."**

"Oh, and tell him I said 'Hi'." Thalis cut in, earning himself incredulous looks from his fellow Collectors.

"…and Thalis says 'Hi'." Rory added, at the same time that Thalis demanded: "What?" sounding a bit defensive.

"**Ah, so the Collectors are present."**

"Are you going to come and join us?"

"**Hmnnh…" Koschei hummed doubtfully.**

"It won't be boring." Rory insisted.

"**Nmmmm…"**

Rory let out a huff and turned to Amy.

"Is he doing the hummy-thing again? Yeah. Give him here." Amy decided, holding out her hand for the mobile. "Koschei?"

"**Amelia."**

"Don't you start that with me, Mister. Are you coming out or not?" She said in her 'mom voice'—the same one that she'd used to tell the older Timelord off for calling it a 'mom-voice'. There was silence on the other end of the line. "Fine. You should stay there if you can't manage to behave like an adult."

"**I'll have you know that I—"**

Amy hung up on him before he could finish his protest, handing back Rory's phone, undaunted.

"He'll be with us shortly." She reported.

"Right." Rory replied and left to see what the Doctor was up to.

* * *

The Doctor wandered down the brightly-lit, metal hallway toward the locked section. The heavy doors to the seal had been left halfway open in the rush to meet up with Haesha, but the force-field was still holding steady. The Doctor halted abruptly and frowned, backing up a couple of steps to look down at the claw mark in the steel paneling on his right.

"Look at you…" He muttered, tiling his head to one side. "You're very strong, aren't you… and durable." He began to crouch down but then straightened and spun on his heel instead to face the three suited figures marching towards him from the other end of the hall. "Hello!" The Doctor called pleasantly.

The suited guards raised two, formidable-looking plasma blasters and a pulse-pistol to aim at his head.

"Oh! No need for that, I assure you." The Doctor assured them, raising his hands.

"Identify yourself." One of the guards ordered in a deep, commanding voice, the big one with the blue visor on his helmet and the pistol.

"Well, I—" The Doctor began, gesturing with one hand until he heard the two blasters powering up in response.

"Don't _move_." The same voice reminded him, sounding parental.

"Or you'll shoot, right, sorry… Just wondering, are you American by any chance?" The Doctor theorized. He didn't need to see the eye-roll the leader gave him. It was broadcast loud and clear through the giant's body language. "Never mind, as I was saying earlier: hello, I'm the Doctor. It's nice to meet you …well, -ish. And your name is?"

Two entirely red guards flanking the giant exchanged looks through their reflective visors, then jumped at the unexpected burst of laughter from somewhere behind them. The Doctor popped up onto his tiptoes to peek past them at its source.

"I know, sorry. It's not that funny…" Thalis apologized to Rory, rubbing his arm. "At ease, Gentlemen. The guy's a friendly." He instructed the security team.

"Commander Rae?" The lead guard questioned even as he lowered his weapon.

"They're friends. They came here to help us with your little…" Thalis glanced back towards the unlucky crewmen's room "problem." He paused for a beat, than added. "By the way, this is Rory."

"Um, hi." Rory piped up, waving self consciously.

"Rory, this is Lt. Commander…" Thalis trailed off, clearly having forgotten the poor bloke's name. "This is the Lt. Commander. Lt. Commander, Rory."

"Smooth." One of the other guards remarked. The Lt. Commander let out an irritable sigh and grabbed the Doctor's arm in a firm but not quite uncomfortable grip.

"Doctor, right?"

The Doctor nodded.

"You're the leader."

"Oh, well I wouldn't really…" The Doctor began to ramble, but the guard just looked to Thalis who nodded emphatically.

"The Captain'll want to meet you." The Lt. Commander concluded. Then he turned to his subordinates. "Take the others to holding until we know how she wants to handle this."

"Yes, Sir." The two red guards said and hurried over to take Amy and Rory into custody.

"What?" Amy exclaimed when a red guard came over and took out a pair of sturdy, metal handcuffs.

"Sorry, Ma'am. You're in a secure zone." The guard informed her.

Amy shot a challenging glare at Darius.

"It would be in our best interests for you to cooperate, Mrs. Pond." Darius decided, his feelings on the matter banished from his face.

"Oh, really, Darius. We're supposed to be on the same side here!" Amy protested, although at least she wasn't struggling against the man cuffing her. "What about my brother? What are you gonna do about his safety?"

The guard cocked his head questioningly at Darius, but the Collector gave nothing away. Amy smiled without any warmth, pointedly revealing her canines to the man as a subtle reminder. _~What are they going to do if they find him? They'll assume it's him!~_ Darius blinked, tilting his head slightly in a hidden nod.

"I'll do what I can." He told Amy simply, before gesturing to the guard. "Private business, Ensign. Carry on."

The guard nodded once in acknowledgement and steered Amy out of the room.

"You'd better not betray us." Rory told the Collectors as he, too, was led away toward the cells. None of them outwardly acknowledged the threat.

After a momentary pause, Darius made his way towards the door.

"Well, let's not waste time." He called over his shoulder to the other two. "Don't you two have work to do?"

"Where are you going?" Thalis called back, watching Darius head toward the force-field.

"To do what I can." Darius answered cryptically and engaged his helmet. Thalis watched him go, then turned to Haesha.

"Alright, let's get her—" He waved at the cadaver on the floor between them. "—Down to medical. Maybe we'll get lucky this time."

* * *

Darius walked across the dimly-lit, decompressed cargo-bay to run a hand along the outside of the TARDIS, trailing it over the wood as he circled round to the doors. They were still shut of course, so he knocked. There was no response—not surprising considering the amount of time that had passed since the phone call. Perhaps Koschei had already left. Darius paused. The TARDIS was impenetrable; everyone with a brain knew that, but still… He shrugged and pulled on the door handle. Naturally, it wouldn't budge. He smiled at the confirmation. A hand grabbed his shoulder from behind.

"Ghh—What?!" Darius snapped, spinning to face the Timelord in the orangey red spacesuit behind him.

Koschei grinned.

"Was that necessary?" Darius asked, frowning at him.

"No. But it _was_ fun." Koschei admitted.

"Amy and Rory have been taken into custody by ship's security—they're unharmed—just being kept in holding for a while." Darius clarified when the slighter alien's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Why?"

"Oh, you know humans, excitable little creatures. A handful of their crew is killed and suddenly any stranger's a threat to the lot of them."

"You seem to be doing fine." Koschei observed, turning to head for the corridor. Darius easily matched his stride and fell into step with him.

"Yes, well. I'm me." He remarked by way of explanation.

Koschei smirked. " I suppose you think you could talk your way out of anything."

"Just about." Darius confirmed.

Koschei snorted.

"There is a bit of a snag…" Darius said, grabbing Koschei's arm to stop him a few meters away from the barrier. Koschei turned back to regard him expectantly and he continued. "As I've mentioned, the crew here are in an elevated state. They are having some difficulty trusting each other, let alone all of us, and then there's the vampiric aspect of these murders, and you…"

"You're concerned about my fangs." Koschei deduced.

"I don't get concerned." Darius corrected. "Amy and the Doctor however…"

"They think that the crew will pin the murders on me."

"Wouldn't you?" Darius pointed out.

"True."

"It would be practical for you to take refuge in the TARDIS." Darius said lightly.

"It certainly would be." Koschei agreed, studying him.

"We could continue on our own until we can get the others released. You could always sit this out. I'm sure they could manage it."

"They might."

Koschei and Darius' eyes met.

"I've never been all that practical." Koschei remarked.

"Why begin now?" Darius agreed with a smile. He released the security seal and inticated the force-field with a dramatic flourish. "After you, Sir."

Koschei tilted his head in acceptance and headed through the barrier.

"Just so you know," Darius added while Koschei was distracted. "I did more or less tell your Amy that I'd look after you. I've decided to keep my word to avoid her wrath."

Koschei growled his displeasure at the news.

Thalis rounded the corner, heading towards them and raised an eyebrow at him.

"You'll adapt." Darius dismissed, disengaging his helmet.

Koschei glared at him and removed his own helmet.

"I don't need a babysitter."

"I see you haven't changed." Thalis observed.

"You can't have found anything yet." Darius objected.

"True." Thalis said, moving so that he was a little closer to Koschei than he was to his own commander. "That doesn't mean I can't relay bad news."

"How wonderful." Darius said sarcastically.

"First, Captain Omarell wants to see you ten minutes ago." Thalis relayed, and Darius swore under his breath. "and Haesha thought it would be best to let you know that the other victims' cadavers have gone missing."

"Fucking_ jinsenoha_! You are not—No, you are." Darius closed his eyes and ran a hand over his shaved head as he did his best to rein in his temper. "Fine. That's fine. Listen, you're with this one until I return." He indicated Koschei with a jab of his thumb and skillfully ignored the other man's murderous glare. "See what our resident evil genius makes of the crime scene."

"You got it, Dare." Thalis accepted. Darius popped his neck before heading to the lifts to go meet with the ship's Captain.

"And don't get cute with me, _Tally_, I'm not in the mood."

Thalis smiled at his retreating back. "Yes, Sir."

"Thalis." Koschei prompted. Thalis' head snapped round to face him.

"Oh, right this way, Master." He directed, leading the other man towards the latest crime scene. "Haesha heard the struggle from outside, but the damned thing slipped out of the room somehow before she could get in."

Koschei circled the bodymark, sampling the air with a few delicate sniffs.

"We've already swept the room for trace-evidence. The Doc thought the sodium in the vent was interesting... Are you even listening to any of this?"

"No." Koschei responded, tossing his helmet rather forcefully to Thalis so that he could crouch down over the spot the corpse had once lain upon. "Shut up."

"Mm-hmm." Thalis hummed, tucking the helmet under one arm and watching Koschei lean down over the spot, doing Lords know what. Koschei suddenly let himself fall forward over the bloodstained floor, catching himself with his face just scant centimeters away from touching to take deep, extended sniff. Thalis gagged a little.

Koschei sat back on his haunches, looking contented, then glanced up to meet the Collector's gaze.

"That's gross." Thalis let him know. Koschei blinked a couple of times, perhaps digesting that news, and Thalis tried not to think about isues of sanitization.

"The blood's wrong." Koschei announced, standing to leave.

Thalis snorted. "You would know."

"Problem?" Koschei prompted, looking offended.

"You practically inhaled it."

"I'll assume then that your kind don't eat meat." Koschei challenged.

"Now that you mention it, no. No we don't. "

Koschei scoffed, despite the fact that he didn't really eat meat either. In fact, he didn't eat anything whatsoever since his little epiphany just before the incident in South Dakota. Upon further reflection, he noted, "Yes but you _do_ make a living out of hunting down and killing other sapient beings, so perhaps our perspective moral spectrums aren't compatible."

Thalis stared at him for a moment, trying not to consider Koschei's assertion too much, before shaking the thought from his mind.

"We're getting way off topic here. Come on, let's meet up with Haesha and see if you can't make yourself useful in the lab."

Koschei wordlessly followed him out and remained silent through most of the journey to Medical. When they were just outside the doors he stopped short, squinting at the double doors as if he thought they might swallow him up.

"Master?" Thalis questioned.

"There's a human with her."

Thalis tilted his head in acknowledgement and paused to listen. "It's the Lt. Commander. He's head of security and such things on board the Labyrinth."

"You mean he's the Tactical Officer." Koschei translated drily.

Thalis scoffed, "Yeah. They call him that." His gaze snapped to the door. "Incoming. _He's coming_." Thalis warned, but Koschei didn't even twitch towards cover, not that there was much to speak of. "Master, that means you should- Hello, Lt. Commander!" Thalis interrupted himself to greet his (now helmetless) fellow with a big, fake smile.

"You still can't remember my name, can you." The ruggedly-hansome brunet accused, looking unimpressed.~_An american, there's a light accent, he's form the South, possibly even the Deep South. Hasn't been gone two long if the tan is anything to go on.~ _Koschei determined internally.

"No..." Thalis lied. Luckily for him, or not, the T.O. had just then realized that Koschei was there too and wasn't likely to call him on it.

"Who the hell are you?" He inquired, his dark brown eyes running over Koschei's subtly inhuman features.

"Don't answer that." Thalis immediately countered, thinking of Koschei's prominent canines. The Lt. Commander crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Sir?" He simultaneously requested and accused.

"Excuse us, please. Ma- Mr. Pond." Thalis said to Koschei, waving him through to join Haesha so that Thalis and the Lt. Commander could discuss him in private.

* * *

Rory sat on the cot in his cell, running over the Function's data files pertaining to Vampires, and trying to stave off boredom. This wasn't all that bad for a brig, really. The walls were a pleasant shade of cream and the beige cot that he sat on was actually fairly comfortable. Even the constantly shifting, crystalline, pink barrier that stood in for bars to his cell was clearly designed to be aesthetically pleasing, although that didn't cause him to doubt its function in the slightest. It was still a barrier. He was still locked in a cell. The lighting around him was both warm and dim, which was why he'd volunteered for this one in Amy's place. The insufficient lighting left a good portion of the room in shadow. Given that his visual sensors could percieve details even in the dark that human eyes could not, he had imediately noticed the vent mostly hidden by the deep shadows, and calculated their comparative chances against an intruder slipping in through said vent. So far nothing bad had happened. Rory hoped it stayed that way. He opened his eyes at the sound of metal sliding against metal. _~There goes hoping.~_ He thought wrily, as an intruder slipped silently in through the, now open, vent.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay guys, so sorry for the delay! Technical difficulties. Sorry I've gotta make this brief so, thanks for reading y'all. Please review.

**A/N2:** Yeah, I know this had an appalling amount of gramattical/spelling errors. I read it over again, and I think I caught them. If I missed some, feel free to let me know. I'm clearly imperfect and I know it.


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